AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jordan Spieth is not used to worrying about the 36-hole cut at the Masters and so it makes sense that he had no idea when he teed off Friday for the second round how many players qualify for the weekend.
The Masters takes the top 50 players and ties and anyone within 10 shots of the lead. Having shot a 75 in the first round, Spieth was in need of a decent score to make it; he just didn’t know how decent until he asked his caddie, Michael Greller.
“I thought it was 60 and ties and Michael told me — because I’ve never been anywhere near it — so Michael told me on 15 or 16,” Spieth said. “I’m like, ‘It’s 10 off the lead and 60 right?’ He goes, no, it’s 50. And I’m like, well good thing I probably didn’t know that.”
Spieth, who has struggled for much of the last year and has no finishes better than 30th in 2019, rallied with a 68 during the second round to get to 1 under par for the tournament.
In five previous Masters appearances, Spieth has never been worse than 10th through two rounds. He won the tournament in 2015, finished second in 2014 and 2016 and was third last year. His worst finish is a tie for 11th in 2017.
“I felt like the first round was kind of where I was on the weekend last week and then I thought today was a bit better,” Spieth said. “I think it’s getting really close to being in full control and able to have kind of the ball striking like today on a regular basis if not better.”