| -12 J Spieth (US); -11 D Berger (US); -10 H Norlander (Swe); -9 T Lewis, P Casey (both Eng); P Cantlay (US); -8 R Knox (Sco) |
| Selected others:-6 J Day (Aus); -5 F Molinari (Ita), J Dufner (US); -4 J Furyk (US) |
| Full leaderboard |
Jordan Spieth is trying to get familiar with “feeling the nerves” of being back in contention for a tour win.
The three-time Major winner holds a one-shot lead after the second round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California.
It is the first time the former world number one, now ranked 69th, has led at the halfway stage of a PGA Tour event since the 2017 Northern Trust.
“I’m just trying to get more comfortable being toward the top of the leaderboard,” said the American, 27.
“You start to get more comfortable the more often you’re there, and these two days playing with or around the lead for at least the back nine [Thursday] through most of the round [Friday], I felt a lot more comfortable than I did last week, which is a good sign.”
English pair Tom Lewis and Paul Casey are three shots off the lead, with Scotland’s Russell Knox a shot further back.
Spieth was joint leader after the third round of last week’s Phoenix Open – the first time he had been in such a position after 54 holes since the 2018 Open Championship – but finished tied for fourth place to claim his first top-20 result since the Memorial last July.
One of his 11 PGA Tour wins came at Pebble Beach in 2017 and he finished the first round three shots behind overnight leader Patrick Cantlay, who shot a 10-under 62.
But the American produced a 73 on Friday, while Spieth fired a five-under 67, claiming birdies on four of his last six holes.
He sits at 12-under heading into the third round, when rain and high winds are forecast.
“It looks like Pebble’s going to be mean Pebble, and I look forward to that challenge,” Spieth added. “It’s going to be fun to go out there and have to hit some different level shots than when we played in the desert last week.”
