A member of the host Australian Golf Club since he was 15, Jones grabbed four birdies in six holes before the turn to spark his second round, which gave him a 135 total he thought would still be close to the lead by the end of the day.
Advertisement
Though tournament organisers would no doubt have wanted world No. 12 Adam Scott and Spieth in the final pairing on Sunday, the 2013 Masters champion’s disappointing opening rounds dropped him to a share of seventh place and nine shots back from Jones at 1-under, despite a solid Saturday round of 68.
“I made a couple of bad swings and a couple of bad decisions”, Spieth said. “I just didn’t know what to hit and I ended up two clubs off, thinking the wind was helping when it was actually hurting”.
If he does go back-to-back, Spieth would be come the first worldwide player to achieve the feat at the Australian Open since Jack Nicklaus in 1976.
Spieth is equal third with 2010 champion Geoff Ogilvy (71), Aron Price (68), surprise first-round leader Lincoln Tighe (73) and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts.
They both parred the third, but Jones finally began to right the shop with a birdie on the fourth hole, while Spieth sank a par putt to leave the margin at three shots.
Even if he fails to clinch a second Australian Open title on Sunday, he will have one final chance to finish with a trophy when he tees off at Tiger Woods’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas next week.
Gibson once shot 55 during a social round on a respectable golf course in the US.
The 2015 Emirates Australian Open is the first event in The Open Qualifying Series and three players who finish in the top ten and ties who are not already exempt, will earn places in The Open at Royal Troon, which will be played from 14-17 July 2016.
The highlight was his eagle two at the par-four 17th where his 180-yard 8-iron shot bounced twice on the putting surface before rolling into the hole.
“Maybe I’ve played here a lot, so I’ve got a little more local knowledge”, Jones said. “I think I can shoot a couple of mid-60s; it’s really do-able if you play good and I’ve just got to put it together”.
Major victor Adam Scott (68) is nine shots off the lead.
Advertisement
The American says he’s feeling as good as previous year when he stormed home with a course-record 63 to snare the Stonehaven Cup.
