Side-by-side, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy strode up the ninth fairway, the last hole of their Friday round, to a resounding ovation.
McIlroy and Spieth entered this PGA Championship ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the world, respectively, but on Friday, Spieth conquered McIlroy by four shots and vaulted up the leaderboard with a 5-under 67.
Dallas’ Spieth began the second round with a five-stroke deficit and in a tie for 24th. By day’s end at Whistling Straits, he was tied for seventh at 6-under, three strokes behind clubhouse leaders Jason Day and Matt Jones, who were still on the course when play was suspended by a storm.
“We’ve got some work to do this weekend,” Spieth said. “I’m going to have to shoot a couple more rounds like today.”
Having won the Masters in April and the U.S. Open in June and coming torturously close to winning the British Open last month, Spieth said he knows he’ll need to drive better and make more mid-range putts than he made here the first two rounds.
Yet there he was Friday, “just trying to guide the ball off the tee,” as he put it, when rather suddenly he catapulted himself into contention.
He was even-par through six holes and trailed leader David Lingmerth by seven shots. About two hours later, at 12:23 p.m., he made a 7-foot birdie putt and grabbed a share of the lead, culminating a barrage of five birdies in a nine-hole stretch.
Much like he did with a 36-foot chip-in birdie on No. 12 Thursday, Spieth ignited his second round by holing a 48-foot, 11-inch bunker shot on the 18th hole, his ninth hole of the day. Moments later, McIlroy double-bogeyed.
“It was a great spark to get things going, get a little confidence, a little pep in my step,” Spieth said. “I was staring at 1-over for the round and instead make the turn at 2-under [for the tournament].”
This was merely the latest example of 22-year-old Spieth’s accelerating maturity level and seeming innate ability to produce greatness on cue.