Spieth finds touch at Colonial, avoids third straight missed cut

The Texan bogeyed three of his first five holes at Colonial Country Club, but a 35-foot birdie putt at his sixth hole turned the defending champion's fortunes around, setting the stage for four more birdies in a five-hole stretch on his inward half.

(Reuters)

So instead of ending the day answering questions about what was wrong with his game, Spieth headed home with his sights set on clawing back the four strokes to halfway leaders Webb Simpson, Kevin Kisner, Danny Lee and Scott Piercy.

“Tremendous bounce back today,” a relieved Spieth told PGATour.com after posting a two-under 138 halfway total, well inside the cut, which fell at four-over.

“That was big for me after missing the last two cuts. If I’d missed this cut …,” added Spieth, who missed cuts at the Byron Nelson and The Players Championship.

The former world number one ended the round equal 11th and credited his putting touch with getting him back on track.

“I felt I really got back into a rhythm with the putter today. That was the best putting round I’ve had in a long time.

“Really nice fightback ... Needed it big time. We worked from missing the cut to in contention, so I feel good.”

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Peter Rutherford)