British Open 2019: Jordan Spieth getting his groove back at Royal Portrush

Jordan Spieth made a strong move up the leaderboard on Friday at the British Open. Can he keep it rolling through the weekend at Royal Portrush?

Jordan Spieth put his name in the major championship record books early on with his magic at the Masters, but he’s looking to add yet another strong finish to his record at the British Open this week.

Spieth has been a tough player to figure out this year, something I’m sure he’d say about his own game, too. He’s got one more top-25 finish on the PGA TOUR (five) than he has missed cuts (four). But he won’t be adding to the latter total this week at Royal Portrush, where he’s set himself up quite well heading into the weekend.

Considering some of the big numbers we’ve seen players put up this week so far, Spieth’s Thursday round of one-under 70 was strong, but it left plenty of room for things to go sideways, too. The 25-year-old took care of that real quick out of the gates on Friday.

Spieth made four straight pars to open the day, and then turned the jets on with some lights out putting. Birdies on the fifth and sixth were followed by an eagle on the par-5 seventh, then yet another birdie on the par-4 eighth. He gave one back with a bogey on No. 9, but he made the turn in four-under 32, and suddenly he found himself inside the top ten.

His putting has been strong, but Spieth has taken a rather, shall we say, untraditional approach to scoring this week. He’s hit just 39.29 percent of fairways in regulation, often finding himself in the thick stuff and having to hack out. That’s 20 points off the field average, but he’s still hit 24 of 36 greens in regulation.

Basically, he’s giving himself a chance despite some of the worst setups of anybody in the field. That alone has to be a huge confidence boost.

"“I putted a bit better [Friday],” Spieth said of the change in his game between the first and second rounds. “Different wind change so certain holes played harder than others and others became easier.”“I felt like I played the easy holes well and then I avoided the pot bunkers today more than I did yesterday. But I certainly found the rough more today than I did yesterday. At some point I hope to be playing off the short grass this week.”More from British Open NewsMax Homa Reaches Turning Point in Majors2023 Open Championship: The Real Winners And Losers At HoylakeAssessing Brian Harman’s Open Championship victory‘You Don’t Have The Stones For This’ – Harman Motivated By HecklersWatch Brian Harman Receive The Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool"

While there’s certainly a lot of golf left to be played in this British Open, and certainly some more challenging weather conditions, we’ve seen just how well Spieth can handle those challenges. He’s just three shots off the current lead (-8, held by J.B. Holmes and Shane Lowry in the clubhouse, with Dylan Fritelli still on the course), and easily within striking distance.

I’ve held strong to my belief that it will just take one or two strong weeks for Jordan to find that gear that’s kept him from playing to his full potential. He’s been close a handful of times, with a tie for third at the PGA Championship his best finish of the year, but even that week left some gaps to fill in.

That’s what makes this British Open so important. Spieth has already established himself as a guy who should consistently be contending for majors, and this is his last shot of the year. That’s not to minimize the importance of every other PGA TOUR event he plays, but when you’re peaking on the biggest stage, that makes everything else that much easier.

They say that the truest mark of a competitor, in any field, isn’t what they show in moments of strength, but in moments of weakness and difficulty. Jordan Spieth has taken his lumps over the last couple of years, with a handful of spats with caddie Michael Greller blowing up far more than they should in the Twitter-sphere, and the battle to live up to expectations that are, frankly, almost unreachable.

However, Spieth has continued to handle it all as a true professional, and you have to believe that one of these weeks will be the last time we ask “what’s wrong with Jordan?” Perhaps it’ll be this week. He’s certainly using his past successes as motivation.

"“I think I need to be looking at the positives of the history of this tournament, and my history in major championships, versus focusing on anything else,” Spieth said Friday. “If I can walk tall knowing that there’s very few people who have been in this situation contending in the weekend in majors as many times as I have, that’s certainly a confidence boost for myself. So that’s going to be the mentality.”"

That mentality has proven to be successful for Jordan Spieth time and again in the past. The mission for the first two days is complete, to get into contention. Now it’s time to see what he’s got on the weekend.