SPIETH’S RALLY IS A WELCOME SURPRISE

JORDAN SPIETH and Dustin Johnson put together notable second rounds at the USPGA Championship yesterday that added up to a collective message — don’t forget about us.

While everyone was ready to proclaim the era of Brooks Koepka following his breathtaking first round 63 on Thursday, two more Americans who’ve done some things over the last few years walked the fairways together and conjured up deeds that declared their determination to differ.

While Johnson’s 67 to move to four under par was broadly in line with expectations given he’s the world number one and the brawny Black Course is right up his alley, Spieth’s 66 to progress to five under was a terrific surprise.

‘I felt I had good control of my game and it was nice to roll in some putts,’ said the 25-year-old.

‘I made some good par putts on my front nine to keep the momentum going and then took advantage when I had birdie chances.’

The trouble for Spieth, Johnson and everyone else with designs of reining in Koepka was the mann himself wasn’t interested in anyonenyone else’s statements of intent.ent. One of the laterer starters, the 28-year-oldd continued to butcherr Bethpage over the front nine of his second round, picking up three more strokes. Tommy Fleetwood picked up three shotss himself to remain withinin four of the lead at thathat point, with Spieth five behind and Johnson sixx adrift.

As for Tiger Woods,s his play continued to be in stark contrast with his playing partner, Koepka, his sole target to make the halfway cut rather than win a 16th major.

The Masters champion never hit a fairway until the ninth and was right on the cut mark at three over, but a long birdie putt on that hole at least gave him some breathing room. It also brought the biggest roar of the day so far from the fabulous New York gallery.

Spieth (above) hasn’t managed so much as a top 20 finish all year and has fallen all the way to 39th in the world. With this course offering such an advantage to men who hit the fairway, it seemed the last place for a golfer ranked outside the top 200 in strokes gained in driving this season.

The Texan made light of it all, however, befitting a man who won three majors before his 23rd birthday.

As ever, though, when he’s playing well, it was his putting that most caught the eye, and his bewildering ability to master the most difficult skill in the sport — holing putts from outside 20ft.

Here, the total length of putts he holed came to 140ft, and he needed just 23 putts in all. That usually gets the job done, doesn’t it?

And so a tournament that began with all eyes on Woods’s pursuit of history moves into the weekend with Spieth in search of a career Grand Slam — which hasn’t been witnessed since Tiger himself completed his own in 2000.

Of course, it remains to be seen how a man who hasn’t been in contention to win anywhere for ten months copes with the weekend at a major played in noisy New York with such a goal on the line.

‘I’m trying to think less when I’m on the course and react more, and the patience required to play this course fits in with what I’m trying to do,’ explained Spieth.

As for Johnson, he was threatening to do a Koepka when he muscled his way to four birdies in a six-hole stretch over the mmore difficult back nine — his oopening half on this occasoccasion. BuBut a missed par putt frofrom 6ft at the 18th, fofollowing a brilliant chip ffromr thick rough, ststalled his momentum aat exactly the wrong mmoment, given the ininviting nature of the opopening holes. HHe would play his back nine in 35 strokes but remairemained bullish about his chances.chanc ‘If I strike theth ball as well over the weekend and keep giving myself plenty of chances for birdies, then I’m going to have the opportunity to win,’ said the 35-year- old, who won his only major at the US Open in 2016.

Spieth’s round wasn’t the best of the morning wave. That belonged to Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick, who got to six under for his round at one point after four birdies in a row.

It looked as if the mighty Black Course was about to fall victim to the indignity of another 63, but a rare three-putt from the 24-year-old at the fifth put the brakes on.

‘It sounds like a massive difference from the first day but the only real one was that I made a few putts whereas on Thursday I made nothing,’ he said.

‘I like courses like this one, where you have to put the ball in the fairway. I’m looking forward to the weekend and the chance to make further progress.’

Paul Casey followed up his level par opening round with a 71 to stand on one over, the same mark as compatriot and former Masters Champion Danny Willett.