Jordan Spieth scrambled to a 68 on Friday at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, breaking par for the first time in six rounds at Firestone Country Club.
He hit just 10 greens in regulation, but was able to make six birdies, including a chip-in at the third hole. He birdied his final hole for the second consecutive day to pull into the top 10, but he also is six shots behind leader Jim Furyk. That birdie followed a frustrating stretch on Nos. 4-7, where Spieth was happy with his play but also 2 over par for those four holes.
“I was as frustrated as I’ve been in a while on the course, just because I didn’t know what I could be doing any better,” said Spieth, who has four wins this season and will be seeking his third major of the year next week at the PGA Championship.
This is his first start since The Open Championship, where he finished one shot out of the playoff won by Zach Johnson. They played together in the first two rounds at Firestone, a pairing that featured the winners of the year’s first three majors. Johnson shot consecutive 70s in the first two rounds.
Spieth blamed poor wedge play for his first-round 70 during which he was admittedly rusty. He scrambled his way to today’s sub-par score. He made his first par of the day on his sixth hole. After teeing off on No. 10, he had to get up-and-down for bogeys on the 11th and 12th holes. His birdies at Nos. 10, 13 and 14 came on putts of 2, 10 and 15 feet. He also made birdie at the 17th hole to make the turn in 33.
He reached 3 under with his chip-in at No. 3, but bogeyed Nos. 4 and 5 before hitting his 193-yard approach shot at No. 9 to 3 feet and making the birdie putt. Spieth said the chip-in was his 13th of the season; one more this season and he said he'll win a bet with caddie Michael Greller.
Spieth has hit just 11 of 28 fairways through two rounds. Firestone Country Club is playing firmer than most years, making its slanted fairways harder to hold. He’s also hit just 20 of 36 greens in regulation. He’s gained 3.5 strokes tee-to-green in the first two rounds, though.
This is Spieth’s second visit to the Bridgestone Invitational. He finished 49th last year after shooting 5 over par for 72 holes. Finally breaking par at Firestone was important. Moving into contention was a higher priority. Spieth said Thursday that contending the week before a major allows him to see how his body will respond to the pressure.
“It goes with the bigger goal of trying to give myself a chance to win this championship,” Spieth said. “It wasn’t going to happen shooting even.”