Jordan Spieth, the US Masters and US Open champion, who had missed two cuts in the previous three FedEx Cup play-off tournaments, returned to form with a four-birdie, bogey-free second round that made him the chief pursuer to Sweden's Henrik Stenson in the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
With Stenson chasing a second FedEx Cup play-off title in three years, and with it the $10 million bonus on offer, Spieth – on a tough scoring day where the onus was on players to find the fairways off the tee rather than veer into the clinging, wet rough – made inroads to jump up the leaderboard with a 66 for 134, six-under-par, that got him within three shots of the leader and on to Stenson’s coattails.
Stellar season
In describing his pursuit as “eerily similar to two years ago,” Spieth added: “He (Stenson) is the man to beat!” Stenson shot a second round 68 to add to his opening 63 for 131, nine-under-par, to retain the lead at the midpoint.
After an opening round of 68, Spieth had remarked: “My club face (is) struggling at impact right now. It’s been something I’ve been trying to get over the past couple weeks, where the face just kind of seems to open, kind of jerking open.”
But the season’s two-time Major champion stuck gamely to his task in the second round, with back-to-back birdies at the eighth and ninth and another on the way home at the 15th before finishing in style with a 12-footer on the 18th to sign for that 66 that moved Spieth into contention for a fifth tournament win of a stellar season.
Spieth required just 23 putts in his second round as he moved up the leaderboard, jumping up three places to second with only Stenson ahead of him. They are paired together in the final group of the third round.
Finishing bogey
Rory McIlroy, who relinquished his world number one place to Australian Jason Day at the start of the week, also responded to the challenge as back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th moved him in the right direction only for him to find a greenside bunker on the 18th for a finishing bogey for a 71 which left him on three-under 137.
The 26-year-old Northern Irishman – who opened with a 66 – has insisted his focus is on titles rather than on any potential jackpot bonus. McIlroy observed: “I wouldn’t feel that much pressure if it was for X. I would feel more pressure if it was to win that tournament or if it was to beat this player. I would be way more nervous over a putt to beat Tiger Woods for a dollar than I would over a putt for $10 million. It’s just never been that much of a motivating factor for me.”
In his second round, McIlroy struggled to find a spark on his outward nine, with bogeys on the third and eighth, and a lone birdie on the seventh from six feet, in turning in 36. Another bogey on the 13th saw him lose ground only to respond with birdies on the 14th and 15th until that dropped shot on his finishing hole left him signing for a 71 that left him six shots adrift in tied-fifth.
