J.J. Spaun is contending at Colonial, believes things aligning for U.S. Open defence

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — J.J. Spaun is thinking a little bit about his schedule and a lot about his putting while in contention at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial.

The reigning U.S. Open champion believes he’s getting both lined up just about right three weeks before he tries to defend his first major title.

Spaun surged with four birdies on his front nine before a couple of late bogeys in a 2-under 68 that put him at 8 under Friday, two shots behind Englishman Jordan Smith and one back of Hideki Matsuyama and three others after 36 holes at Colonial.

Smith took the lead by himself with a 31-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th, saved par from a bunker on 17 and missed a nine-footer for birdie on 18 to finish at 10 under with a second consecutive 65.

“It’s going to be a new experience for us out here leading for the first time,” said Smith, a 33-year-old PGA Tour rookie who qualified through the DP World Tour and had his best finish at third in the Valpar Championship.

“Not going to force anything, not going to rush anything, just going to see what happens and enjoy it.”

Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion with 10 other tour victories, and Michael Thorbjornsen had matching 65s. They were at 9 under with Ryan Gerard (67) and 2023 British Open champion Brian Harman (66).

Spaun was joined by Akshay Bhatia (65), Russell Henley (66), Brice Garnett (66) and Alex Smalley (67).

A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam, B.C., had the second hole-in-one in two days at the 195-yard, par-3 16th — Brandt Snedeker aced it in the opening round — and followed an opening 70 with a career-best 63, the low round of the day. He was at 7 under with Michael Brennan (66) and Mackenzie Hughes (67) of Hamilton, Ont.

Canadians Sudarshan Yellamaraju and Adam Svensson missed the weekend cut.

Gary Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, was among 11 players at 6 under at Hogan’s Alley, where light wins and still-soft conditions led to 154 sub-par scores through two rounds. That tied the previous high of 154 sub-par rounds from when Zach Johnson set the 72-hole scoring record of 21-under 259.

Temperatures reached the mid-90s with a heat index approaching 100, and conditions are supposed to stay that way through the weekend. There is almost no chance for rain.

“It’s drying up just like it probably did a little bit yesterday afternoon,” Harman said. “The fairways will get firm and these fairways will get tougher to hit, and that’s how this place protects itself.”

Defending champion Ben Griffin shot a second consecutive 68 and was 4 under along with Justin Thomas, a stroke above the cut line.

Spaun, who was among six players tied for the lead after an opening 64, missed the cut in six of his first 13 events this year, including the Masters and PGA Championship. He said he changed putters because he was losing confidence on the greens.

The highest-ranked player in the field at No. 9, Spaun kept his hot front nine going with a 15-foot par putt at 17 and was still without a bogey for the tournament before missing a pair of par putts outside 15 feet on the seventh and eight holes.

“It’s nice to see that the putter switch was a good change,” Spaun said. “I found myself kind of resenting my putter at times when I’m out on the course. That’s been the only issue all year. My ball striking’s been pretty solid. The weeks that I putt just slightly better than average, I contend.”

Spaun’s other two wins are both at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, including last month. He figures the 27 holes on Sunday in a rain-altered event might have contributed to a 74-75 at the Masters, and he shot 70-76 while playing a third consecutive week at the PGA.

After playing the Memorial next week, Spaun will skip the Canadian Open before going to Shinnecock Hills.

“It will be nice to have a week off and then get to Shinnecock and kind of feel fresh, but not like I’ve taken too much time off,” said Spaun, who skipped Colonial’s neighbouring event, The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, last week.

Smith made 181 feet of putts, including a 40-footer from the fringe on the par-4 12th. The long putt at 16 came two holes after his only bogey of the tournament so far at the par-4 14th.

“The putter’s been hot the last two days, which is nice to see,” Smith said. “Swing still hasn’t felt 100%, but we’ve been hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, which is key out here.”

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Schuyler Dixon, The Associated Press