2014 Players Championship scores: Jordan Spieth makes run to top of TPC Sawgrass leaderboard

With the conditions supposedly toughening up for the afternoon tee times, I said earlier today that I’d be shocked if Martin Kaymer (12-under) didn’t go to sleep on a mutli-shot 36-hole lead at The Players Championship. I guess I just underestimated Jordan Spieth yet again, as the 20-year-old continues to exceed expectations and is now just one shot back of Kaymer at 11-under in his first ever Players Championship.

It was just a month ago that Spieth contended in the final Sunday pairing in his first ever Masters, and he’s right back at it at TPC Sawgrass. Now he’ll be out in the final pairing again on Saturday, leading the field in scrambling, one-putts, and bogeys. The last stat is pretty simple to follow, because Spieth has not made a single bogey in 36 holes at the Stadium Course. That’s hard to believe, given all the water and increased accuracy that’s required here, but Spieth keeps pushing the boundaries in his first full season on the Tour.

To follow up on his early morning 67 on Thursday, Spieth went out Friday afternoon against windier conditions and tougher pin placements and did one shot better, firing a 33 on both the front and back side at Sawgrass. He missed birdie chances on two of the four par-5s, but again, there’s not a single crooked number on his card through two days. After the round, he seemed to agree with the notion that this is the best his short game has ever been, and noted that the surfaces at TPC Sawgrass are the same as what he grew up on in the Dallas area. His chipping and putting have been perfect so far, saving those pars up around the green and converting the birdies to get into double-digit red figures. It’s the first time in 27 years that a player has been bogey free through the first 36 holes in his first appearance at the Stadium Course.

With defending champ Tiger Woods out, and a number of unknown first-time winners through an underwhelming first half of the season, the PGA Tour needs some superstars and fresh blood to start winning tournaments. A Spieth run at the Tour’s biggest event of the year would be one of the better outcomes with Tiger on the shelf. Spieth had a bad stretch in the final round at the Masters, but that Sunday was more about Bubba overwhelming the course than Spieth receding. The 20-year-old should be around all weekend, and have a chance to close the biggest win of his nascent career.

While the new blood rose to the top of the leaderboard late on Friday, some of the game’s most entrenched superstars needed putts on the final green just to make the cut. Rory McIlroy made his putt to get to the weekend, Phil Mickelson did not. It’s the second straight year Mickelson has missed the cut at this event, and comes a month after missing the cut at the Masters for the first time since 1997. He’ll play again at the Memorial and in Memphis, but things aren’t trending well for that all-important U.S. Open date at Pinehurst.

McIlroy was just as shaky as Phil, and played his first six holes in 7-over on Friday. He needed a back nine 32, and that birdie putt on No. 18, just to make the cut after starting the day in a relatively good spot on the leaderboard. He’s got the talent to always post a number in the low 60s, but it’s obvious Rory doesn’t really get along with this course and he’s too inconsistent right now, especially with the putter.

Here’s the full leaderboard at the midpoint at TPC Sawgrass: