Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas tackle twists and turns at RBC Heritage

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – It is never a bad time to have Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas paired.

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But, hey, if you can order up an afternoon of vigorous and shifting winds on a precise golf course where trees crowd your vision, greens are the size of tabletop saucers, and some bunkers were molded in thimbles, imagine the wild stuff you might see.

Then again, we needn’t imagine. We had Friday’s second round of the RBC Heritage where Spieth and Thomas were paired for the 40th time in their PGA TOUR career, this time with the engaging Shane Lowry completing a marquee trio upon a gem of a course called Harbour Town Golf Links.

“Very interesting, just one of those (places) where you get in some funky places and get in spots where you just have to be creative,” said Thomas. “It’s not like you miss the green, grab your lob wedge, and chip it up here and just make your par and get out of there.”

Thomas surely walked the walk yesterday, as did his pal Spieth, who seems to be made for Harbour Town, as it plays to his strength. You will miss a lot of greens at this Pete Dye gem – in his round of 3-under 68, Spieth hit only 11; Thomas shot 71 and hit nine – and Spieth is at his best when he has to scramble.

Thomas is no slouch, either, as he proved behind the green at the par-3 14th. With his ball on a slope not 25 feet from the pin, he chose a putter to direct it up the incline, careful not to let it get caught in grass and turn right into a bunker or bend sharply left and funnel painfully away from the hole.

In a word, it was awkward. But then again, the whole day would be like this, a vintage wind-swept day where precision would be hard to find on a course that demands it.

“It’s just really tricky around this place,” said Spieth. “You certainly want to be comfortable before hitting each shot.”

Hey, even after you hit it, the day presented discomfort, like Spieth commanding of his ball to stay right and not go out-of-bounds at the par-4 ninth, which offered perhaps Exhibit A of the day these guys would have.

Spieth was level par on his round at the time, but still wincing over a bogey at the par-3 seventh. When the drive at nine somehow didn’t travel onto the driving range, he was saved. Thomas, meanwhile, drove it onto the green at the 332-yard hole and he was pretty much handcuffed.

Welcome to Harbour Town.

“One of the best shots I’ve hit in a long time,” moaned Thomas, whose ball bounced onto the front of the green and bounded into a bunker the size of a bucket barely 20 feet from the pin.

“It was unfortunate.”

Yes, it was, because he couldn’t get much of a swing on it and left the first one in the bunker and made bogey.

The twists and turns of Harbour Town continued on the back nine, Spieth holing a bunker shot for birdie at the par-4 12th, each of them draining birdie putts at the par-4 13th, then Thomas stepping into the show at the 14th.

You would never even think to practice the putt Thomas stood over. But there he was, excited to have birdied 13 to get back to 1-under, cautious not to mishit this shot that could lead to bogey, or worse as he knew he was teetering on the cut.

(It would fall at level par.)

Deftly, Thomas navigated his ball up the slope, barely trickled it through the fringe, and left himself a 6-footer that he made.

Adventures followed them into the clubhouse, of course, because on this day, the wind was strongest at the end closing holes. Spieth wildly mishit a second shot miles right on the par-5 15th, but shock of shock (wink, wink) he recovered masterfully for a par.

And Thomas badly pushed a drive high and soft at the par-4 18th (you ever know him to hit a 252-yard drive?) yet pounded a long iron into the green to assure a fifth straight par to finish.

Having finished at 5-under 137, Spieth sits four behind Patrick Cantlay, while Thomas, at 1-under, has much more work ahead of him.

Some of it, he knows, will force him into awkward positions. He’s ready for it because he had a lot of practice Friday.