PALM HARBOR — The winds died down Friday at Copperhead — and Jordan Spieth came to life.
The defending champion and world No. 1 player rebounded from an opening-round 76 to sink five birdies en route to a 68 that left him at 2-over-par 144.
Spieth’s day got off to a rocky start when he took a bogey at the 561-yard first hole, where an errant tee shot cost him a penalty stroke and it took a two-putt from 46 feet out just to salvage a 6.
“I’m walking off that green going, ‘Oh boy, we can either somehow flip this one around today or I don’t want that hole to be the key to me not being here this weekend,’” said Spieth, who won the Masters and the U.