Sergio Garcia knows a prodigy when he sees one because he was one himself. And he can see Jordan Spieth.
The 17-year-old is right behind Garcia (66) and Colleyville's Ryan Palmer (67), co-leaders at 132 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
Spieth shot 2-under 68 on Friday at the TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas. He's tied for ninth, five strokes back.
"It's great to see," Garcia said. "We try our hardest to keep doing things to help the game of golf, but we need young guys to come up behind us, because they're going to be the future of the game."
Spieth already had a big Saturday in store. His Dallas Jesuit graduation ceremony is at 4 p.m. at SMU. He tees off at 11:21 a.m.
As for his golf, he's in better shape than at this point last year, when he finished tied for 16th. And the graduation: his last name starts with "S."
"Depending on how the day goes ... I'm going to shoot over there as quickly as possible," Spieth said. "I don't know how long it usually lasts. We'll see what happens."
In 2010, Spieth became the sixth-youngest to make the cut in a PGA Tour event (16 years, 9 months, 24 days). Although he shot the same scores, 68-69, in reverse order in 2010, Spieth was tied for 22nd, seven strokes off the lead.
If Spieth can't make his graduation, he'll get his diploma next week in a small ceremony for his family at the school with everyone in the proper attire. But in a real sense, this weekend might look like a graduation of sorts, just with a golf shirt and Titleist hat instead of a cap and gown.
Spieth is clearly no longer just a solid junior golfer hoping to gain experience inside the ropes at a PGA Tour event. That might have been the case a little last year, but Spieth has bulked up since then, fine-tuned his skills and brought with him a putter that acts like a magic wand straight out of a Harry Potter novel -- he leads in average putts per round after two rounds at 24.
The result is a 17-year-old playing golf at about 10 years above his age. He's essentially another "young gun" out here trying to outmaneuver the golf course with power and precision. "He had another year of what I'd call 'stressing his system' to the point where his ability to cope with the big stages and the knowledge that he can compete in those situations has helped him become a better player," said his golf instructor, Cameron McCormick, who has coached him since he was 12. "Yesterday, he got off to that rough start, and some players might crumble under that weight of expectations and pressure. But he was able to steady himself.
Starting on the back nine, he made impressive par saves on the first two holes with putts of five and six feet. Then he birdied No. 12 with a putt of about 25 feet from off the green, and hit to three feet for birdie on 14.
That was a drastic contrast to his first-round start, when he struggled with nerves while bogeying two of the first three.
"There just wasn't as many people on the first tee this morning, no one wanted to get up, so I think that helped," Spieth said. "Maybe just having already gone through one round. I've been waiting for this tournament for the last month, been preparing for it, so definitely some nerves to start, and now that I'm kinda into it, I think I'll be good."
Spieth, a Texas signee, was 4 under before he bogeyed 5 and 9 coming in.
The pros are certainly impressed with Spieth's resiliency on a course that is playing difficult. Winds were gusting more than 25 mph in the afternoon.
"All he's having to do is have fun," Palmer said. "He's got nothing to lose. But still, to be on this stage as a senior in high school, at 17, it's impressive. I'm starting to wonder if he's thinking about four years of college or just one year.
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