Jordan Spieth finds pace at Genesis Open before a rained out second round

Jordan Spieth nearly escaped the rain in Los Angeles at the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club with a full 18 holes of play in Round 2 on Friday. Instead, he only got 16 of the 18 in before rain washed out the day, but he played them almost flawlessly in brutal conditions (downright apocalyptic for Los Angeles).

Spieth moved up 28 slots on the leaderboard to T4, and at 5 under, he trails leaders Jhonattan Vegas and Sam Saunders by just two strokes. Spieth made an early bogey on his third hole of the day (No. 12 on the course) before playing the final 13 pretty much perfectly.

His wildest shot of the day probably came on the par-3 sixth hole when he hit a tee shot that looked like it was going off the back of the green before spinning all the way back to 15 feet. Spieth centered up the putt for birdie No. 4 on the day.

Spieth’s streak into the weekend should not come as a surprise. He almost won this tournament back in 2015 and is coming off a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week. He has not finished outside the top 10 at a PGA Tour event this calendar year so far.

He has had only one round at Riviera over 72 (a bizarre 79 in Round 1 last year). In addition to all of this, Spieth’s Texas Longhorns won the NCAA national title at Riviera back in 2012. There are certainly good vibes when it comes to The Riv.

Spieth found his putting stroke a little on Friday after a ho-hum 69 in Round 1. If he can find birdies at both of his final two holes when players return to the course on Saturday morning, he can tie the lead early on the weekend (something he has been quite familiar with over the course of his young career).

Round 2 at Riviera will resume at 10 a.m. Eastern on Saturday.

SOURCE: CBS