Northern Trust Open: Jordan Spieth misses cut despite second-round 68

PACIFIC PALISADES Jordan Spieth didn’t check out of his Los Angeles hotel Friday morning even though his chances to make the cut at Riviera Country Club were slim. Jordan Speith watches his shot on the second fairway during the first round of the Northern Trust Open golf tournament, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016 in Los Angeles. Trying to chip out a few yards, the ball bounced up and hit him in the hand.

Fifteen strokes ahead of Spieth and in the lead is Jason Kokrak, who shot up the leaderboard following a seven-under-par 64, which left him on 10-under.

His birdie count went from nine to two, and he made a double-bogey six on the second hole. Despite his mediocre start to the round, the world number three shifted his game to the next level on the back nine as he started with a birdie at the 10th before going on to make two more at the 15th and 17th. “It’s nothing new. Going overseas, we did have weeks in between, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary, and there’s no excuse for me to say that right now, because I felt 100 percent this week”.

South Korea’s Jenny Shin, Japan’s Haru Nomura and American Danielle Kang shared the lead on Saturday heading into the final round of the LPGA-sanctioned Australian Open at The Grange in Adelaide. He has finished no worse than fourth in four of the eight previous times he has played, and he has more rounds at 67 or better (10) than anyone since he started playing.

“The way I hit it on Saturday, Sunday at Pebble, I can definitely see something special coming”, he said. “It would be nice to hear something like that again tomorrow”. He made an 18-foot par putt and was two shots behind with Scott (67), Kevin Chappell (66), K.J. Choi (67) and Marc Leishman (68).

The cut came at even par.

The world No 3 opened with an easy birdie at the par-five first, and he then thrilled the cast galleries with a remarkable 60-foot putt for an unlikely three at the third. He has that slight pause at the top of his swing, before he just uncoils through the ball. “I would guess 17-under, 16-under, would get it done”.

Villegas struck an imperious 63 and peppered his card with birdies, including four in a row through holes five to eight.

However, several big names were in close pursuit, including nine-times PGA Tour victor Dustin Johnson, twice Masters champion Bubba Watson and world No 3 Rory McIlroy. “Just too many mistakes”. Although he improved on Friday by 11 shots, the second-round 68 left him five shots off the cut line.

“I guess Rory is considering this as the start to his run at the Masters”, Spieth said of the first Major of the season that begins on April 7. I’ve always played where you have to kind of float it on to the front of the greens and let it bounce and I just never trusted the adjustment.