Jordan Spieth one back after 65 at Nelson, sets up ‘sea of people’

Hometown star Jordan Spieth put up a low number Friday morning in the second round at the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship and then let the rest of the field take its best shot.

Speith, who in 2010 as a junior from Dallas Jesuit High School tied for 16th at the Nelson, on Friday shot a 5-under 65 for a 36-hole score of 11-under 129.

Ben Crane leads heading into the weekend at 128 after a 63 Friday. “You’ve got to keep your foot on the gas pedal out here,” he said. “It turns out these guys are pretty good.”

But Spieth’s share of second place with Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka and Bud Cauley was the day’s big news.

“This weekend will be a lot of fun,” said Spieth, who used a Jesuit Rangers golf bag in his first two Nelsons. “This first hole, I will always have, the two years I was in contention as a high schooler, kind of a mental picture of what the sea of people looks like as the hole turns to the right. I’m pretty sure we’re going to see that. It will be a unique feeling and one I hope to feed off of.”

Prior to his 129, Spieth’s best 36-hole score on the PGA Tour was 130 at the Masters in 2015 and January’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions. He won those events.

“Yeah, I’m excited thinking about it right now,” he added. “But all this week has felt different than Byron Nelsons in the past. It feels more like a normal week. I don’t know why. Feels just like another tournament, one that, you know, I need to come back from how I played last week.”

Spieth missed the cut last week at The Players Championship, and that was his first tournament since April’s meltdown at the Masters. At Augusta National, Spieth went from a five-stroke lead at the turn, to a three-shot deficit four holes later and never recovered.

“The Masters felt like it was quite a while ago and that’s why it almost feels like that’s why I’m getting ‘Was it nice to have your name back on top?’ ” he said. “Well, I mean two tournaments ago. It does feel like a while ago.”

Spieth followed Thursday’s seven-birdie, one-bogey round, with Friday’s six-birdie, one-bogey effort that started at the 10th hole, and before 8 a.m.

“There were hardly any people out there the first few holes, which was bizarre at a Byron Nelson, but 7:50 off the 10th tee, it will take a few holes,” he said. “But, boy, by the time we made the turn here, it was — there’s a sea of people, it felt like.”

Last week at The Players, he reached 24 of 36 greens in regulation. At the Nelson he’s 33 of 36. Spieth missed one green Friday.

“My misses last week really cost me. I dropped shots,” he said. “I haven’t dropped shots doing so this week, but I do need to continue to tighten the proximity to the hole on approach shots or else you can’t keep getting away with it.”

Spieth’s previous best 36-hole Nelson score was last year’s 6-under score of 133. (Heavy 2015 rains turned the par-4 14th hole into a par-3 for the last three rounds.) Spieth’s tie for 30th last year was his best Nelson as pro.

“This is an event that would be extremely, extremely special if we were to come out on top at any point in my life,” Spieth said. “To hold the Byron Nelson trophy, just given the memories here.”

Crane, a Metroplex resident for 12 years until moving to Nashville in 2014, said his focus this weekend will be on his game.

“I don’t look at who I’m playing with, I don’t look at scoreboards. I can’t control it,” he said. “I wish I could. I wish I could just dial up a 3 on hole No. 7, but I can’t. I just tend to focus on what I can focus on.

“If I happen to see a scoreboard, or they ask me to come in for an interview because you’re leading the tournament, I’m OK with it. But going forward this weekend I can’t afford to let up.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 7:53 PM with the headline "Jordan Spieth one back after 65 at Nelson, sets up ‘sea of people’."