Jordan Spieth signed for a bogey-free nine-under 62 at TPC Craig Ranch on Friday, vaulting himself one shot off the lead at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson after a back nine that included six consecutive birdies and a playing-partner hole-in-one he called one of the prettiest he has ever seen.
The 31-year-old, who grew up in Dallas and counts the Byron Nelson as his hometown event, played his second round in the same group as overnight co-leader Sungjae Im and Chris Gotterup. The three combined for a best-ball score that Spieth tried to keep tabs on in real time before giving up.
"I have a 61 and a 62 in the same group," Spieth said. "I was hurting my head trying to figure out what our best ball was, but I think it was 57, which is pretty good."
Spieth started slowly, "kind of hanging behind" Im and Gotterup on the front nine before turning the round inside out after the turn. The catalyst was a wedge-iron approach onto the seventh hole that set up the first of his six straight birdies.
"It's nice to capitalise," he said. "You play the hole, you got a wedge in your hand, you got a shot that you see, and you're kind of thinking, I should make birdie here. It's just nice to do it. A lot of it comes down to knocking in putts, and it felt good."
The streak ended when Gotterup raised the bar. From 222 yards on a par three with a left-pin position and wind off the left, Gotterup struck a five iron that held the breeze and rolled in like a breaking putt. Spieth, who has two PGA Tour aces of his own, was effusive.
"That was one of the prettiest hole-in-ones I've ever seen, prettier than anyone I've ever made," he said. "It's 222, and he just hit this perfect five iron that held the breeze and came down and went in like a putt breaking left to right. From that distance, that club — there were all these other par threes that were way easier to make a hole-in-one on than that one."
Im then closed out the round with an eagle on the par-five 18th to share the early lead, while Spieth's 62 dropped him one back and into the final group conversation for Sunday.
Asked about his form, Spieth indicated this is the most encouraged he has felt about his game in years — a notable admission from a player who has spent much of the past five seasons publicly searching for the swing that produced three major championships before he turned 24.
"It's everything physically in my mechanics," he said. "I got pretty off for a long time, and I've been trying to build it back. Then I'd compensate and do what worked, and then this last off-season I said, no more compensating, because to be consistent I've got to get it back to a certain place. It's been work from then to try to get there. It's all in mechanics and health."
A familiar gallery only sharpens the appeal of the weekend. Spieth had family members in the ropes throughout Friday and confirmed his children will appear at TPC Craig Ranch over the next two days.
"I had a lot of family out today, and I certainly have that tomorrow," Spieth said. "My kids will make an appearance this weekend, which will be fun, because they don't come out very often."
A win in Dallas would be Spieth's first PGA Tour title since the 2022 RBC Heritage.
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*Originally published on [Golf News](https://golfnews.global/article/jordan-spieth-cj-cup-byron-nelson-2026-bogey-free-62-six-straight-birdies-hometown). Visit for full coverage.*
