Spieth had a roller-coaster of a front nine in which he bogeyed three of his first four holes and birdied the next two before finishing the front nine with a bogey and a birdie – just two pars going out.
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Adam Scott, who like defending champion Jordan Spieth opened with a 71, failed to take advantage of the easier conditions, shooting 73 to move further down the leaderboard.
Jones, who started the day with a three-shot lead on seven-under, enjoyed a similarly uncertain start and turned around at level par for the day after three birdies and three bogeys.
“And now I’m well in contention and likely in the last group, whether it’s three or four behind, it’s a lot better than I’d thought it would be after four holes”.
“It’s been a while since I’ve played in wind like this and with the toughest part in deciding what shot to hit”.
“The cross winds again made it a guessing game out there today, leaving a 50-50 shot and we got less than 50 per cent of them right”, said Spieth.
The 22-year-old American missed an eagle putt of about 35 feet on the 18th, but made his birdie to place him a good position for the weekend. As the TV announcers noted, his shot was on the flag the entire way, and you could tell from Spieth’s body language while the ball was in the air that he really liked it.
He’s entered to play the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, where he lives, in early December, although it is an unofficial money event on the PGA Tour because of its limited field.
Westwood, a former Australian Open champion, shot a 70, as did U.S. Amateur and 2015 NCAA champion Bryson DeChambeau.
For Jones, Sunday’s final round at a club where he has been a member for 20 years offers a chance to have his name etched on the Stonehaven Cup along with some of the greatest golfers of all time.
“Much more preferable for me, the faster the greens get, yeah but they were lovely today”. The wind was one and a half, two club wind, but you’ve still got to get it in the hole.
Scott ended a birdie drought not with his troublesome putter but by chipping in from just off the green on the third hole.
“Any time you have a chance to win your own country’s Open would be fantastic”, he said.
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Asked if he’d practice in the afternoon, he replied: “No, I’ve played plenty of golf, I’ll just go home”.
