WATCH ABOVE: Jordan Spieth continued to dominate at Augusta National setting the 36-hole scoring record. Kevin Smith recaps round two from the 79th Masters at Augusta National.
TORONTO – Jordan Spieth says there are a great number of players in the field at the Masters who could match his total over the first two rounds of the year’s first major championship.
“Anyone in this field that is playing well is capable of possibly shooting 14-under the last two rounds and I have to be able to counter that,” Spieth says.
READ MORE: Jordan Spieth trying to turn Masters into a blowout
But until Spieth, 21, posted 14-under in the opening rounds, no one in the history of the Masters has gone so low heading into the weekend. So maybe Spieth is right—but history says it is unlikely.
“I got off to a great start and had the chance to win last year on Sunday,” said Spieth, who tied as the runner-up to Bubba Watson last year. “I’d like to have that same opportunity to do that again this year, but once again this is only the halfway mark.”
It may only be Friday, but if Spieth continues to play at his current level, it is hard to imagine anyone overtaking him. Through the first two rounds, Spieth, in only his second Masters, has 15 birdies against a solitary bogey, which came on the 15th hole during the opening round. His Friday round of 6-under 66 may not have matched the brilliance of his opening round, but it wasn’t far off.
Story continues after leaderboard
But Spieth says he isn’t getting ahead of himself. He held the lead going into last year’s final round and didn’t win. This year, Spieth says he isn’t letting his mind wander to the possibility of becoming the youngest winner in the history of the Masters.
“I’m not going to get ahead of myself … and understand that it is going to feel like a whole other tournament,” he says.
Tiger Woods knows something about breaking through at the Masters at a young age. Woods won the Masters in 1997 at the age of 21. He understands the comparison with Spieth, but says he never had a comfortable lead when he won his first major.
“There’s a pretty big separation between first and third,” Woods says. “He’s played beautifully. But anything can happen here. You can play well and shoot over par here.”
Spieth has a five-shot lead over Charley Hoffman, who shot 4-under in the second round. Pressed on whether he was surprised by being in second despite playing well, Hoffman said the tournament was not over yet.
“We’ve only played 36 holes and we’ve got a lot of golf left,” he says.
Spieth is being chased by some of the biggest names in the game, with big-hitting Dustin Johnson and U.S. Open winner Justin Rose seven shots behind, followed closely by multiple major winners Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.
Spieth admitted a lot can happen on the weekend at Augusta National. There were plenty of players under par in the second round, and if he stumbles even slightly, someone could chase him down.
“Each round on the weekend of a major can feel like you’re playing two rounds in one,” Spieth says. “It feels like it is long day and you can’t get too up or down. There’s a lot of stuff can happen, a lot of lead changes can happen. Holes can yield birdies and double bogeys.”
Two of the biggest names—Rory McIlroy and Woods—both played well enough to make the weekend. In Woods’ case, he was much sharper than his opening round, hitting 14 greens and finishing at 3-under par in a tie for 19th.
After making double bogey on the 9th hole, McIlroy, the world’s top golfer, was on the verge of doing the unthinkable and missing the cut. But he rallied with an eagle on 13 to slip under the cut line.
Canadian amateur Corey Conners also had a fine second round, shooting 3-under 69. It wasn’t enough to make the cut, but it demonstrated Conners can play the game at the highest levels.
Canadian Mike Weir, playing with an injured arm, continued to struggle. The 2003 Masters winner didn’t make a birdie, finishing the second round at 81, near the bottom of the leaderboard.
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