Friday 24 November 2017 08:46, UK
Jordan Spieth feels he remains well-placed to challenge for a third Emirates Australian Open title, despite falling further off the pace during his second round in Sydney.
The world No 2 struggled to make the most of the calmer morning conditions as he stuttered to a level-par 71 at the Australian, leaving him eight strokes adrift of midway leader Lucas Herbert.
Spieth is making his first competitive appearance in seven weeks and showed signs of rustiness with his short game and putting, mixing two birdies with as many bogeys in a frustrating display.
"It just was a bad day with the flat stick, it happens," Spieth said. "I was a little tentative to start, the greens were slower than I thought I could do on them and I left everything just a foot or so short.
"If I'd made one of those earlier, it could have been a completely different story today. I'm going to look to make a putt early in the round tomorrow and maybe jump-start a weekend.
"On this golf course more than just about any that we play, I feel like you can make up more ground and come from behind here over I think any tournament I've played this entire year.
"I'll have a pretty gettable golf course I imagine in the morning with the guys really having to watch themselves in the afternoon and if I can post something like five, six-under, then I'm very much in this tournament."
Jason Day is Herbert's closest challenger after posting a three-under 68 in the afternoon winds, but agreed Spieth can still move back in to contention over the week.
"If he (Spieth) gets something going on the weekend, he can hole a lot of putts and make a lot of birdies and make a charge," Day said. "Usually he does make a charge on the weekend.
"Sometimes there's not a lot of pressure on your shoulders. You just go out there and kind of free-will it and that's how you make a ton of birdies and move up the leaderboard pretty quick."
Watch the Emirates Australian Open throughout the weekend on Sky Sports Golf. Coverage continues with third-round highlights on Saturday at 9am and 3.30pm.
