LINK TO LIVE SCORING FROM THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

• Kaymer, Spieth on collision course this weekend at TPC Sawgrass

  •  FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
  • By Sean Martin, PGATOUR.COM
• Martin Kaymer leads, but young phenom Jordan Spieth is right on his heels at THE PLAYERS. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – Germany's Martin Kaymer and rising USA star Jordan Spieth have pulled away from the field at THE PLAYERS Championship, but they face two more rounds at a TPC Sawgrass course that is laden with traps and trouble.
Kaymer, who tied the course record in the first round, is at 12-under 132 (63-69), one shot ahead of Spieth (67-66). Russell Henley is four shots back. Five players are tied for fourth, six shots off the lead.
“If people want to talk negative about it, I shot six shots worse, but you can always go in the negative,” Kaymer said. “But I see very positive things that I backed up that 9-under-par with another decent round.
Kaymer’s 12-under total matches the second-best opening 36 holes in PLAYERS history; Greg Norman shot 14-under 130 (63-67) en route to his 1994 victory.
Spieth’s 66 was the day’s low round. He hasn’t made a bogey in 36 holes.
“The round from Jordan this afternoon is obviously really, really good,” said Sergio Garcia, who’s T4. “It wasn’t easy. I didn’t see a lot of 66s out there.”
Spieth reached 11 under after knocking his approach shots at Nos. 11, 13 and 14 all within 8 feet of the hole. The latter two birdie putts were just 4 and 3 feet, respectively. 
He had a chance to tie Kaymer but failed to get up-and-down from in front of the green at the par-5 16th.
Spieth is coming off a second-place finish at his Masters debut. This is his first PLAYERS Championship. Both events have a reputation for being tough on first-timers. That hasn’t mattered to Spieth.
“Every course I’ve played over the past few years has been a brand new course to me,” he said. “I feel very comfortable chipping around these greens. That makes it a lot easier to hit the second shots in, knowing that I can be a little more aggressive.”
Spieth has hit 13 of 18 greens in each of the first two rounds. Kaymer isn’t bogey-free -- he’s made two, both Friday -- but his ballstriking has been impressive. 
He hit 13 greens in regulation Friday after missing just one in the first round. He leads the field in greens in regulation after hitting 30 of the first 36.
Spieth was just 16 years old when Kaymer won the 2010 PGA Championship. “I know he was former No. 1 in the world,” Spieth said. “Obviously a great player that, I guess he lost No. 1, … but he’s been coming back for a while now, playing some good golf.”
Kaymer has said that he struggled with the attention that came with being the world’s top-ranked player. He’s now 61st in the OWGR.
There are four players in THE PLAYERS field with a chance to become No. 1 for the first time. Kaymer isn’t thinking about returning to that lofty post, though.
“That is three, four, five steps more than you should go,” he said. “I take it step by step. A lot of people think it’s a good feeling to be No. 1 in the world, and it makes you very proud, it’s nice to be up there, but it comes with a lot of pressure and a lot of expectations from others and subconsciously from yourself.
“I hope I get there. … I think I’m better prepared and it will be a lot easier. I’m 100 percent sure I will handle it better.”

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72) Players from USA unless stated
132 Martin Kaymer (Germany) 63 69
133 Jordan Spieth 67 66
136 Russell Henley 65 71
138 Jim Furyk (USA) 70 68, Lee Westwood (England) 67 71, Gary Woodland 67 71, Justin Rose (England) 67 71, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 67 71
139 Brian Davis (England) 72 67, Matt Jones (Australia) 70 69, John Senden (Australia) 70 69 Kevin Na 70 69, Bill Haas 68 71, Sang-Moon Bae 66 73, George McNeill 71 68, Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 69 70, Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 72 67, Scott Brwn 68 71.
SELECTED SCORES
140 Zach Johnson 69 71, Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland) 69 71 (T19)
141 Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 71 67, Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 71 70, Bubba Watson 69 72 (T25)
142 Luke Donald (England) 73 69 (T37)
143 Ian Poulter (England) 74 69 (T52)
144 Adam Scott (Australia) 77 67, Russell Knox (Scotland) 72 72, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 72 72 (T64)

MISSED THE CUT: 144 and better qualified
145 Phil Mickelson 75 70
146 Martin Laird (Scotland) 76 70 
148 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 70 78
149 Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland) 76 73, Thomas Bjorn(Denmark) 73 76
152 Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 77 75.
 To view all the scores

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