Friday’s roundup: Spieth out at Nelson; Kokrak leads

Irving, Texas — While big-hitting Jason Kokrak has an AT&T Byron Nelson record five-stroke lead through 36 holes, he knows that is only halfway with plenty of other players who could make a weekend charge.

That includes top-ranked Dustin Johnson. But not local favorite Jordan Spieth after he missed the cut Friday for the first time at the tournament where he made his debut as a 16-year-old high school junior.

“Yeah, a bit shocking that’s how it happened,” said Spieth, who missed the cut by a stroke after a 5-under 75 that included a 9 at the par-5 16th hole after he hit two tee shots out of bounds.

Kokrak, ranked 128th in the world, shot a bogey-free 8-under 62 for his career-best scoring round and matched the Nelson’s 36-hole record at 12-under 128. No one has ever had a bigger lead there after two rounds than his five strokes over Billy Horschel (65), who finished with three consecutive birdies.

“It’s 36 holes. You’ve got the No. 1 player in the world chasing you, you’ve got x-number of other players that are outstanding players,” Kokrak said, when asked about having wiggle room. “Same game plan, just give myself birdie opportunities.”

Maybe as surprising as Kokrak’s big lead halfway through the last Nelson to be played at TPC Four Seasons is that 23-year-old Spieth, the 2015 Masters and U.S. Open champion, done playing this week.

Spieth also missed the cut last week in The Players Championship. He last missed consecutive cuts in 2015.

With a 3-over total after the horrendous 16th hole, and needing at least one birdie, Spieth’s 17-foot birdie try at No. 17 curled by the cup, and he missed a 14-footer on 18.

“It didn’t need to happen. Just playing fine and I tried to just, you know, press it to try to reach the green in two, and then I tried to do it again,” Spieth said, referring to the par-5 16th.

Kokrak finished with a nice par save after driving way right at the 18th. The ball landed in the rough closer to the first fairway with a temporary concession stand between him and the hole. He didn’t take potential relief because that line would have put him directly behind a tree, but he hit the ball back in the fairway short of the green before chipping to 6 feet.

“I made a lot of birdies out there but it was nice,” Kokrak said. “Just keeping a clean card is always a goal. … It was nice to get it up and down.”

The only other time Kokrak had the 36-hole lead in 146 career PGA Tour starts was at the 2016 Northern Trust Open, where he ended up with a career-best tie for second.

Johnson had his second consecutive 67 and was tied for third with Byeong Hun An (bogey-free 66), Bud Cauley (67), Cameron Tringale (68), Jhonattan Vegas (68) and first-round co-leader James Hahn (70).

Sergio Garcia, the Masters champion who is defending his second Nelson title, birdied six of his last 15 holes for a 65 to get to 2 under. He opened with a 73, and was at 4 over for the tournament after his only bogey Friday on his third hole.

This is Johnson’s third PGA Tour event since a freak fall forced him to miss the Masters with a bruised back after he won three consecutive tournaments. He tied for second at the Wells Fargo Championship in his return to the tour two weeks ago, and then had a career-best 12th place finish at The Players Championship.

“The game is still not quite as sharp as it was leading into Augusta, but it’s getting there,” Johnson said. “It’s getting close.”

His only bogey was at his final hole, the 431-yard ninth hole, when his approach landed in rough between a bunker and the green after the wind shifted on him.

Spieth first played a PGA Tour event at age 16 on a sponsor’s exemption in the 2010 tournament, and tied for 16th — still his best Nelson finish. He missed his high school graduation ceremony in 2011 to play after making the cut again.

After an opening birdie Friday, Spieth missed a 3 1/2-foot par putt at the par-3 second hole. He had five bogeys and four birdies, plus saved par from a drop at the edge of a curb after his tee shot at the 316-yard 11th hole rolled to a stop on a neighborhood street, before the quadruple at No. 16.

Ryan Brehm (Michigan State) rallied to make the cut with a 68 and he was 1 over. Brian Stuard (Jackson/Oakland) missed the cut, finishing 4 over.

Champions

At Birmingham, Alabama, Fred Funk shot a 7-under 65 to take the second-round lead in the Regions Tradition.

The 60-year-old Funk, seeking his first PGA Tour Champions individual title since 2012, had a one-stroke lead over Scott Parel in the first of the 50-and-over circuit’s five majors.

Funk had three birdies on par 3s, including No. 17 to move ahead at 12-under 132.

Parel, who went through Q-school in 2016, shot a 66. He made a long putt to save par on No. 18, extending his bogey-free streak to 32 holes.

Scott McCarron, part of a four-way tie for the first-round lead, was three shots back after a 70. .

The third round Saturday will have a two-tee start because of expected bad weather.

LPGA

At Williamsburg, Virginia, Lexi Thompson shot her second straight 6-under 65 to take a three-stroke over playing partner Gerina Piller into the weekend at the Kingsmill Championship.

Thompson is playing her third tournament since losing the ANA Inspiration in a playoff after being penalized four strokes for a rules violation that a TV viewer spotted.

The long-hitting Florida player had six birdies in a bogey-free round on Kingsmill’s River Course. She waited out an hour rain delay in the middle of the round.

Piller shot a 67, closing birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey. She’s winless on the LPGA Tour.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko was four strokes back at 8 under after a bogey-free 67. Trying to hold off So Yeon Ryu and Ariya Jutanugarn for the No. 1 spot, Ko is winless since July.

Ryu, the ANA winner, was 5 under after a 67. Jutanugarn, defending the first of her five tour victories last year, was 3 under after a 67 playing alongside Thompson and Piller.

Candie Kung joined Ko at 8 under. Kung eagled the par-4 sixth in a 66.

In Gee Chun (66) and Vicky Hurst (67) were 7 under, and Angela Stanford (66), Shanshan Feng (67) and Brittany Lincicome (70) were another stroke back.