Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau turn up the heat after sluggish starts

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Numbers were being circled on scorecards at every turn of the head during Friday’s second round of The Northern Trust, which only made the frustration level that much higher for a pair of heavyweights, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas.

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Neither could shift into drive at Liberty National Golf Club in the Playoffs opener. But at least DeChambeau, 1-under through 11 holes, had it in neutral. His playing competitor, Thomas couldn’t even do that. One day after opening with a sizzling 8-under 63, he was 3-over for his first eight holes.

“I had no clubface control,” said Thomas, who missed the fairway with five of his first six drives, though give him credit, he was fair to fans on both sides of the course. “I started missing it left, missing it right.”

Fortunately, Thomas had the luxury of a wonderful Thursday score to fuel his engines and offer comfort that things can change in a hurry with these lads.

“I was patient. I still wasn’t forcing anything,” said Thomas. “I know I can make a lot of birdies, that it’s still early in the tournament.”

Turning to play Liberty National’s front nine, fortunes changed in a hurry as DeChambeau played the last seven holes in 5-under to shoot 65, while Thomas played his last five in 5-under to get home in 69.

Nowhere did the explosive finishes resonate more loudly than at the 612-yard, par-5 eighth hole when Thomas matched DeChambeau’s eagle in a sequence of shots that had them smiling and high-fiving one another.

It was a more improbable eagle for DeChambeau, who drove it in rough right of the fairway and laid up to about 60 yards. The wedge was perfect, finding the bottom of the jar on the third hop. More conventional, but equally impressive was Thomas’ second shot from 286 yards that came to rest 12 feet from the hole.

“I hit 5-wood. We didn’t think it had any chance of getting it up (onto the green). The play was just to try to hit it in that far right bunker,” said Thomas, who wasn’t about to chastise himself for being wrong.

His 5-wood was enough club, and his eagle putt was pure, and the pleasantries were on.

“We were just joking,” said Thomas, who had initiated a conversation up to the green with DeChambeau after the hole-out. Then came the matching eagle and even more smiles and more chatter.

“After I made my putt, we looked at each other and said, ‘Good halve,’ ” laughed Thomas, who took note of the sprint in his playing competitor’s step.

“He definitely had some fun the last two holes hitting driver.”

Pushing to 10-under 132, Thomas was within two of Tony Finau’s clubhouse lead, while DeChambeau got to 6-under 132, which will be a half-dozen off the lead, but a vast improvement from where he had been a short while earlier.

“I’ve always been pretty good at changing things on the fly, or at least making something work,” said Thomas. “Finally did on those last five or six holes.”