Playing his 34th round at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Jordan Spieth followed an opening-round 63 with a 4-under 66 to lead by a shot at 11-under 129 at the halfway mark on Friday.
The 2016 Charles Schwab Challenge winner carded his fifth bogey-free score at the tournament and is the only player bogey-free through 36 holes.
A shot behind, Jason Kokrak posted his second-consecutive 65 to move to 10-under. Anirban Lahiri put an improved show with a two-over but missed cut with a cumulative two-day score of 9-over 144.
Seeking his 13th title and second of the season after the Valero Texas Open, Spieth holds his 13th second-round lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour and matches his 36-hole score on Tour at the 2016 AT&T Byron Nelson, where he finally finished T18.
This also marked his 18th round inside the top-four of the leaderboard since the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
With a win this week, Spieth could overtake the No. 1 spot in the FedExCup rankings.
Friday marked the second time in Kokrak’s Tour career that he shot back-to-back rounds of 65 or better (129/2018 A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier/T3).
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Kokrak picked up his first Tour victory earlier this season at The CJ Cup. He is attempting to become the third player with multiple titles during the 2020-21 season, joining Bryson DeChambeau (U.S. Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard) and Stewart Cink (Fortinet Championship, RBC Heritage).
Kokrak finished T3 in 2020 for his best finish in six appearances at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Overnight joint leader with Spieth, Sergio Garcia (T3/-8) is seeking to add to his 2001 title and become the tournament’s 13th multiple-time winner.
Among other players, Sebastián Muñoz (T3/-8), who missed the cut last year in his only other start at the Charles Schwab Challenge, opened (Nos. 10-12) and closed (Nos. 16-18) his back nine with three consecutive birdies.
Patton Kizzire (T3/-8) is coming off a solo third at the AT&T Byron Nelson two weeks ago, his best finish on Tour since winning the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii.
Charley Hoffman (T6/-7) followed 71 with the low round through 36-holes, 8-under 62, for a nine-stroke turnaround.
Two-time heart transplant recipient and sponsor exemption Erik Compton (T6/-7) followed 65 with a 2-under 68; and marked his first made cut since the 2016 Quicken Loans National (T29).
Defending champion Daniel Berger was T16 at 4-under while winner of last week’s PGA Championship and two-time winner of the Charles Schwab Challenge (2000, 2008), Phil Mickelson missed cut following rounds of 73-69 (+2).
Text courtesy: PGA Tour
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