Suddenly Spieth: Jordan Takes Halfway Lead At AT&T

Conditions started to change Friday at the AT&T Pro, no-Am, and it was Jordan Spieth working his way into the halfway lead.

Winds began to pick up, blowing 15-20 miles per hour and it was Spieth making some nice birdie putts, enough for him to shoot 67 at testy Spyglass Hill.  That round got him to 12-under at the halfway mark with conditions expected to be potentially ugly on Saturday.

“I’m keeping the ball in front of me and striking it very nicely,” Spieth said after getting around with just one bogey on his card.  “I made some nice putts and I can play shots I need to play.”  Spieth was aware of changing conditions and the forecast for the third round.  “The forecast is gonna be a mean Pebble tomorrow,” Spieth predicted.

Here’s how the contenders are lined up behind the leader:

11-Under Par (133):

Daniel Berger (67-66):  Berger fashioned a nice six-under par 66 at Pebble Beach.  He’s flying under the radar with Spieth getting the majority of the attention on day two.  Berger quietly went about his business.  He played the back nine first and was only one-under for his first nine holes but he took advantage of the easier front nine holes, including a chip-in for an eagle three at the par five sixth hole.  He added another birdie at the seventh and shot 31 on that nine.

10-Under Par (134):

Henrik Norlander (64-70):  After lighting it up on Thursday at Pebble Beach, Norlander kept things together.  “You have to have patience because you can make bogey out of nowhere,” Norland said.  He made just one bogey for his time at Spyglass.

9-Under Par (135):

Paul Casey (68-67):  Casey had another good ball-striking round and birdied the 18th at Pebble Beach for a round of 67.  He should be a factor over the weekend.

Tom Lewis (66-69):  Casey’s fellow Brit is a surprise name among the contenders.

Patrick Cantlay (62-73):  Cantlay’s day got off to a terrible start when his tee shot on his first hole of the day at Spyglass, the par four 10th, was lost in a tree and he took a double-bogey six.  “It wasn’t that bad after that,” Cantlay said.  “All-in-all, I played pretty good today.”

There were a lot of name players who won’t be around for the weekend, among them was Phil Mickelson, who has won five times at Pebble Beach.  Lefty was one-over at the turn and birdied the 10th to get back to even for his day at Pebble Beach.  But his collapse started at the par four 14th when he parked his tee shot out-of-bounds right and took double-bogey.  He then bogeyed 15 and 16 then disaster struck at 18.  After a good tee shot, he hit his second way left, off the rocks and into the ocean.  Same for his fourth.  His sixth found a greenside bunker.  He was out in seven and two-putted for a quadruple-bogey nine and a snowman — 80.  At 10-over, he didn’t even come close as the cut came at one-under par.

Rickie Fowler went home early.  He was three-over after rounds of 72-75.

Kevin Hall signed for 80 at Spyglass after his 73 at Pebble Beach and finished nine-over.

Kamaiu Johnson finished 14-over par, following up his 81 at Spyglass with a 77 at Pebble Beach.  John Daly went 80-77.

AT&T Scoreboard: