Skip to footer

Jordan Spieth sets new Masters 36-hole scoring record

39 years after former Masters champion Raymond Floyd established the old mark, a Texas millennial bettered it by one shot Friday.

|
Brian Snyder/REUTERS
Jordan Spieth of the US waves to the gallery after finishing on the 18th green at 14-under par during second round play of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia April 10, 2015.
  • By Paul Newberry Associated Press

| Augusta, Ga.

Jordan Spieth set a 36-hole scoring record at the Masters on Friday.

The 21-year-old Texan turned in another dazzling round, going to the weekend with a 14-under 130 total. That broke the record of 131, set by Raymond Floyd in 1976.

Spieth shot a 6-under 66 in the second round, essentially blowing away everyone in the field except Charley Hoffman. He was four strokes behind and still on the course, turning in the sort of performance that would normally be good enough for the lead.

Not the way Spieth was playing. He had 15 birdies and only one bogey through the first two days.

"It's special to be in the tournament," he said, "let alone out front."

Spieth said his biggest obstacle the next two days will be scoreboard watching.

He said he just needs "to keep my head down, just need to set a goal for myself. Obviously Charley's playing great, and we may be pretty close up there, and who knows what can happen on the weekend here.

"I'm sure they don't like seeing really low scores so they might speed the greens up tomorrow."

Ernie Els, at 139, was the only other player with a single-digit deficit when Spieth finished his round. Everyone else was at least 10 shots behind.

Spieth missed a chance for another birdie at the 18th hole, his 7-foot putt sliding past the left side of the cup on the slick Augusta greens. He initially went up to tap it in, standing awkwardly so he wouldn't step in the line of playing partner Henrik Stenson, who still had a short putt of his own.

Then, perhaps realizing how important the little putt was, Spieth backed away, marked his ball and waited for Stenson to finish before knocking his in for the record.

Spieth also tied the major championship record for lowest 36-hole score, matching three others.

"He's special," said Els, who began the day three shots back and fell farther behind with a 72 on a sultry, overcast day. "Nothing stands out, because he does everything well. He's going to be tough to beat."

Spieth shot a 64 on Thursday, the lowest opening round at the Masters in 19 years and just one stroke off the major championship scoring record. He came into Friday with a three-shot edge over Els, Hoffman, Justin Rose and Jason Day.

Day and Rose were both struggling Friday, leaving Hoffman as the only player within striking distance.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Jordan Spieth sets new Masters 36-hole scoring record
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/0410/Jordan-Spieth-sets-new-Masters-36-hole-scoring-record
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe