The 2016 AT&T Byron Nelson tournament ended its second round with a cluttered leaderboard Friday, with Ben Crane holding a one-shot lead at 12 under par over a quartet of players.
Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia and Bud Cauley are right behind Crane at 11 under par. Spieth, the big name in that quartet, continued his stellar performance in his home state of Texas after missing the cut at The Players Championship one week ago.
Koepka posted a terrific 64 on Friday to vault into contention.
Here's the leaderboard after two rounds at the AT&T Byron Nelson:
Opening the second round on the back nine, Spieth got off to a red-hot start with a 31 through nine holes that was marred by only a single bogey on the 13th hole. He appeared to be on his way to another 64, possibly better, before slowing down with a one-under 34 after making the turn.
The difference for Spieth this week has been on the green, with the PGA Tour noting the distance his birdies were coming from early in Round 2:
Numbers don't always portray how impressive a performance is, so let's look at one of Spieth's long-distance putts to illustrate how comfortable he's looked so far, via the PGA Tour:
It hasn't been all sunshine for Spieth so far, as ESPN.com's Jason Sobel noted the two-time major champion was showing frustration with one aspect of his game:
This has been Spieth's most encouraging start since he shot a 66 at the Masters in April, though he will look to finish strong this time around.
This has been a record start for Spieth, as Justin Ray of Golf Channel noted his total score of 129 is his best through 36 holes on the PGA Tour.
The only negative for Spieth is that his valiant effort hasn't vaulted him into first place.
Crane emerged from the back half of the top 10 on Thursday to vault into the top spot thanks to a dazzling 63 that he highlighted with a run of six birdies in eight holes. The most impressive of those red numbers came on the third hole thanks to a terrific save from the bunker, via the PGA Tour:
Koepka has been building toward a big moment throughout the year, finishing in the top 10 three times and getting off to hot starts at The Players Championship and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The issue for Koepka, especially in the last month, has been finishing strong. He opened The Players Championship with rounds of 66 and 70 before falling off a cliff with a 77 and 73 over the final 36 holes. He was in the mix at Augusta with a score of one over par after 36 holes but bombed Saturday with a 76.
Spieth and Koepka have recent history competing against each other, though this time is slightly different than their last showdown in January, per Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press:
Given the stark difference in their resumes, Spieth should have the edge over Koepka and Crane heading into the weekend. This is Koepka's chance to rewrite the narrative after his late-round struggles.
Cauley is the odd man in the equation. The 26-year-old battled a shoulder injury in 2014, which led to some struggles. He appeared in only seven tournaments last year on the Web.com Tour and made just two cuts in six PGA Tour events this year prior to the AT&T Byron Nelson.
After starting the tournament with an opening-round 63, Sergio Garcia continued his strong play with a 66 that left him in the mess near the top of the leaderboard.
Like Koepka, Garcia has to put some recent weekend struggles behind him. The 36-year-old has shot better than 75 only once in his last four weekend rounds—a 71 in the final round at the Masters.
The best round of the tournament so far belongs to D.A. Points, who is four shots off the lead thanks to a dazzling 62 on Friday.
Points, who is a 39-year-old Illinois native, reached his low score thanks to nine birdies and just one bogey. To call his score on Friday unexpected would be a great understatement, as the PGA Tour noted on Twitter:
The story gets even better than that. He has not finished higher than 58th in 11 PGA Tour events this season and hasn't finished inside the top 20 since the 2015 Zurich Classic of New Orleans 13 months ago.
There's still plenty of work for Points to do if he wants to challenge for a victory this weekend, but his effort on Friday is one that he can put on the highlight reel forever.
In fact, there's still work for all of the top contenders to do. This has been a hotly contested tournament, with Crane moving to the top of the leaderboard after catching fire in the middle of his round and everyone else bunched tightly together.
Spieth is the marquee draw near the top of the leaderboard. Cauley has the great underdog story. Points proved a great round can get you back into the thick of things.
There is no clear favorite with 36 holes left, which is only going to increase the drama and pressure on moving day.