“I felt fluid,” said Spieth, a 13-time winner who made his Bryon Nelson tournament debut back in 2010 and when he was in high school at Dallas Jesuit.

“I got pretty off for a long time. I’ve been trying to build it back.”

The strongest part of his game right now – the driver – was his only weakness. Spieth missed six fairways on a spacious course.

But those misses were recoverable. Spieth scrambled well, converting all four opportunities to make par after a missed green. And he holed more than 100 feet of putts.

“I know what needs to happen,” Spieth said. “But putting it all together into a fluid stroke and then being able to be outwardly focused has been the goal. I felt like last night I did a really good job out here of that being the goal, find that, and then carry it into this morning and then trust it on the course.”

Spieth had shot 3-under 68 in the first round Thursday. He knew he needed to get to 5 under at a minimum to survive the cut.

He played early. He was joined on the course by family and friends – just like he was in 2010, when he tied for 16th as a spindly amateur playing on a sponsor exemption. He made one birdie, then two, turning at 5 under for the tournament. Then it felt like the hole got wider. He one-putted those six straight holes for birdie. He rose up the leaderboard like the Spieth of old.

“It’s just so nice to – it’s nice to capitalize, right?” Spieth said. “Play the hole, and you’ve got a wedge in your hand, you’ve got a shot that you see, and you’re kind of thinking, I should make birdie here. It’s just nice to do it, right