2024 Charles Schwab Challenge scores: Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler return to contention in Round 2
Isn’t it funny how a quick trip home can benefit the game? After bursting out of the gate at the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge, both local boys – Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler – are back in the mix with Friday rounds of the 60s on Colonial Country Club newly refurbished.
Spieth carded a 3-under 67 to sit at 2-under in the tournament, and Scheffler carded a 5-under 65 to edge his Longhorn teammate by one shot, but both had their final scores in different ways. As it stands, the duo is firmly in the first few pages of the leaderboard, with Sungjae Im and Keegan Bradley leading at just 6 under.
The festivities started early and often in Spieth’s case as the 2016 champion made a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-4 10th hole to start his round. A successful up-and-down on No. 11 led to another up-and-down before a birdie bomb from 40 feet out found the bottom of the cup at the next spot.
Spieth quickly went from over par to the first page of the leaderboard, and he did so almost reaching the lead as his approach on the par-4 15th fell just short of the trophy. inches to set up his fifth birdie of the morning. With plenty of runway still ahead, the 30-year-old appears keen to post something special as he enters the five-under 30 mark.
A par 5 awaited Spieth on the first leg, and after splitting the fairway with his big club, a shoddy long iron left him in a difficult position in the greenside bunker, where he eventually landed. Couldn’t get up and down for his sixth birdie. . In fact, birdie No. 6 never came for Spieth; he did not put another circle on his scorecard and instead added two squares to come home at 2-over 37.
Spieth’s performance was especially disappointing because he consistently placed himself in the center of the fairway. In a strange turn of events, Spieth’s game no longer had the excitement of his putting, his short shot or even his nifty wedge game – all of which hampered him at one stage sometime this year – but instead his driver. After a long, straight tee shot, Spieth appears to be close to finding and putting the remaining pieces together, and there may be no better path for him to do so than Colonial.
While Spieth advanced in the opening nine on his way to the extra round, Scheffler went about his day. He appeared a bit frustrated on the green when he misread his birdie putt on No. 11, but he got it right back when he made a 15-foot putt for the first birdie of the round in number 13.
Similar to Spieth, Scheffler’s iron game held him back as he couldn’t find the first jump on the putting surface. Leaving his approach shots as short as 30 to 40 feet in the early stages of the round, the frustration that filled Scheffler on the greens spread to his irons.
However, as the world No. 1 tennis player often does, he adjusted and figured things out. A wedge on the 18th hole gave him a birdie tap-in to get back to 2 under, starting a streak of four straight birdies in which the longest putt he made was just 3 feet. The iron game returned in a chaotic manner and pushed the game’s top players near the top of the rankings in Fort Worth.
With his mid-innings determined by those scoring clubs, Scheffler relied on his short game late in the game to ensure his error-free effort. A bounce from the roadside bunker on No. 8 after a poor tee shot left the 27-year-old at 3 under, and he’ll do better next time when he attempts a chip-in for par His failed. bow before his 65.
After opening with dominant rounds, both Spieth and Scheffler signed in the red on Friday to put them in position again at one of their home events. Spieth, already a winner here, is looking for his first win in more than two years; Scheffler, already the runner-up here, is looking for his fifth win of the season. While the context of each career is different, a win at Colonial would go a long way for both, just as their second-round performances went a long way for their tournament aspirations.
