Heritage Notebook: Spieth shows recuperative powers with 62

Like most hangovers, this one lasted just one day.

After clearly being mentally exhausted in the first round of the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, Jordan Spieth was re-energized in Friday’s second round.

After shooting a listless 3-over 74 in a first round that came four days after a record-breaking Masters win and two days after a 25-stop two-day media tour of New York, Spieth needed to rally just to make the cut.

He did much more than that.

The 21-year-old fired a 9-under-par 62 that is one shot off the 47-year tournament’s single-round record and catapulted into a tie for seventh place, six shots behind leader Troy Merritt and just two shots out of second place.

“I wasn’t hitting it well [Thursday], but trying to, it was just weird. It was all kind of weird in my head. It didn’t feel normal,” Spieth said. “And today I got off to a good start and I kept my head down. I wanted to shoot a really low round.”

The course-record 61 was set by David Frost in 1994 and matched Friday afternoon by Merritt on a day with ideal scoring conditions at Harbour Town.

Spieth is playing in his fourth consecutive event, having finished first or second in the previous three as well as his last four events overall, and he teed off Thursday without the benefit of a playing a single hole in a practice round.

“I found something in my ball position on the range this morning, and it made a significant difference in my ball-striking and my putting,” Spieth said. “I had one more night’s sleep and just a feeling like I had a little something that I could think about on the course and it helped me zero in on targets a little better and get into a rhythm.”

Spieth’s round consisted of nine birdies and nine pars. He started on the back nine and made a 12-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole. He birdied holes 14, 15, 17, 2, 3 and 5 with three close chips or approaches and putts of 7, 12 and 19 feet.

Spieth closed with a pair of birdies by chipping in from the front of the eighth green and spinning a wedge to 4 feet on the ninth to match his low round on the PGA Tour.

The first two rounds have had a vastly different tension level for Spieth compared to last week at Augusta National, despite large crowds following his group that included defending champion Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed. The gallery swelled to a horde around the ninth green as they finished.

“It’s been a little different,” Spieth said. “I haven’t felt nerves on one putt. Maybe just a little bit of adrenaline on my last putt on 9, because I knew it was for I think to tie my low I’ve shot as a pro. And so with that, maybe felt a little there, which is good. I like the feeling. But yesterday I was almost too comfortable.”

Spieth’s round gives him a late tee time Saturday so he should be able to get plenty of rest Friday night.

“At this point I’m going to try and make a move on moving day, get myself in the last couple of groups and have a chance on Sunday,” Spieth said.

A cut above

Those who weren’t among the 76 players who made the cut at even-par 142 were Rory Sabbatini, Johnson Wagner, Ernie Els, Kenny Perry, Graham DeLaet, Patrick Reed, Jonathan Byrd, K.J. Choi and Zach Johnson.

The Back From The Dead Award goes to 2011 Heritage champion Brandt Snedeker, who shot a 6-over 77 Thursday but was 13 strokes better Friday with a bogey-free 64 to make the cut by two strokes.

Other impressive turnarounds were orchestrated by Russell Knox and Bryce Molder, who also recorded 64s after opening with 75 and 74, respectively, and former World No. 1 Luke Donald birdied the last four holes to shoot 66 and move from the outside the cut line at 1 over to a tie for 29th at 3 under.

A couple of the golf’s elder statesman made the cut, as Tom Watson, 65, birdied the 18th hole with an 8-iron to 4 feet to make the cut on the number. “I’m going to be here during the weekend, which is pretty good for an old guy like me,” Watson said. “You’ve got to get it up close enough where I could kind of gag it in the hole. I didn’t hit the greatest putt but the ball went in the hole.”

Vijay Singh, 52, who has a pair of top-15s this season, shot a 66 and is tied for 22nd at 4-under 138. “I’ve been playing well. I’m putting well,” Singh said. “I’ve been hitting the ball pretty good for awhile now, I just need to take it out on the golf course during the tournament.”

Hard times for Harman

Brian Harman didn’t want to miss a home game this week, though at the start of the week he probably wished the Heritage fell on different dates this year.

The native of Savannah, Ga., which his just 30 minutes outside Hilton Head, is in the midst of a terrible slump.

He is playing in his sixth tournament in a row, and has missed the previous five cuts without breaking 70 in those events.

“Sometimes I’ll take two weeks off and sometimes I’ll want to keep playing,” Harman said. “Leading up to the Masters I wanted to keep playing because I wasn’t playing well. I wanted to play through it. I will play through it. Unfortunately I didn’t play through it before I got to Augusta.”

The struggles continued Thursday, as Harman shot a 4-over 75, his fifth score of 75 or worse in the past five weeks. But he may have finally broken out of his slump on Friday, when he carded a 6-under 65 to make the weekend by a couple shots.

Harman, 28, tied for seventh in the Heritage last year but that’s his only top-50 finish in five appearances, including two as a young amateur. The 2009 Georgia graduate won the affiliated 2005 Players Amateur in Bluffton to earn one berth.

Harman won the John Deere Classic last year but he’s 116th in FedExCup points this season. He’s also in his eighth event in nine weeks, and in the first two he missed a cut and tied for 11th in the Honda.

“Slumps aren’t fun. They’re not fun to go through,” he said. “But you usually come out of them a little bit better than you went in. I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m looking forward to a good rest of the year.”

Faidley debuts on tour

Socastee High and 1998 Coastal Carolina graduate John Faidley gave his parents, Tressie and Al of Murrells Inlet, something fun to do on their 61st wedding anniversary and Al’s 82nd birthday, which both fell on Friday.

Faidley, the head pro at Forsyth Country Club in Winston-Salem, N.C., who won a Carolinas PGA qualifier for the PGA section’s only automatic berth in the tournament, completed the first PGA Tour event of his life with his parents following outside the ropes.

“It was nice to get the group together. The whole family’s here so it has been a nice week,” Faidley said.

Faidley, 49, who worked at Beachwood Golf Club in North Myrtle Beach shortly after college, shot a more-than-respectable 1-over 72 Friday and missed the cut with a 7-over 149. He was 1 under par through his first five holes of the tournament Thursday before recording three bogeys and a double on seven holes around the turn en route to a 77.

“I got off to a dream spot yesterday, was 1 under through 5 on the back and just cruising, but couldn’t keep it going,” Faidley said. “A little better day today, I just wish I could have had a better start. I might have had a chance to make the cut.”

Faidley prepared for the week by teaching a three-day women’s golf school last week and arrived at Harbour Town on Sunday to practice. “If I could have done well I’d write a book on how to prepare,” Faidley joked.

He played Friday with a pair of promising young pros: Arnold Palmer’s grandson Sam Saunders and Corey Conners of Canada, the 2014 U.S. Amateur runner-up who shot a 69 in the Masters last Friday and made his pro debut this week.

“They were great guys. They were very welcoming to me,” Faidley said. “They were great and the golf course was perfect. It was a treat to do it and honor to do it.”

This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 7:22 PM with the headline "Heritage Notebook: Spieth shows recuperative powers with 62."