Jordan Spieth wasn’t nearly as good as the day before, but played well enough to stay on top of the leaderboard.
Spieth overcame a double bogey when he hit his drive out of bounds on the 13th hole and shot 1-under-par 69 to maintain a one-stroke lead over Patrick Reed and Troy Merritt midway through the in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.
“For an off day, to shoot 1-under, hopefully that’s the high score for this week,” said the sixth-ranked Spieth, who opened with a 63. “I made a double on a birdie hole and that throws you back a few shots, but I rebounded nicely.
“We’ve been kind of far behind in a lot of the events in making comeback runs. But being able to be toward the front of the pack on a Saturday afternoon is a beautiful position to be in and one that we’ll certainly embrace. I’m going to try to have a lot of fun this weekend.”
Spieth, who sank a 36-foot birdie putt on the third hole, was at 8-under 136 for 36 holes.
Reed knocked in a 13-foot birdie putt on the last hole to cap a 66, while Merritt posted a 68.
Wesley Bryan recorded a second 67 and is two shots back in a tie for fourth with Chase Seiffert, who had two eagles in a 66, Boo Weekley and Daniel Summerhays, who both finished at 68.
Patrick Rodgers of Stanford collected six birdies in a 65 and is another stroke behind in a tie for eighth with Daniel Berger (67), Beau Hossler (69) of Mission Viejo, Graham DeLaet (70) of Canada, Chez Reavie (66), Smylie Kauffman (67), Padraig Harrington (69) of Ireland, Jim Furyk (68) and Danny Lee (67) of New Zealand.
Anirban Lahiri of India holed a 32-foot eagle putt at No. 13 in a 63 and is in a tie for 17th that includes Xander Schauffele of San Diego, who had a 70, and Brendan Steele of Idyllwild and UC Riverside, who put up a second 68, and Charley Hoffman of Poway, who came in at 67.
Third-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland shot 73 and made the cut on the number in a tie for 69th, but fourth-ranked Jason Day finished at 72-70 and missed the weekend by two shots.
