Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas charge up the leaderboard at the Masters

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are making a run for the Green Jacket after two great rounds on Friday at the Masters.

It’s a tradition unlike any other: Jordan Spieth in contention at the Masters.

Spieth shot a four-under 68 in Friday’s second round and finds himself just two shots back of leader Justin Rose heading to the second round. The 2015 champion, coming off his first win in nearly four years last week at the Valero Texas Open, made five birdies and a bogey and currently sits in a tie for third with Marc Leishman at five-under for the tournament.

Spieth opened the tournament yesterday with a one-under 71 despite a triple-bogey seven on the ninth hole. He’s seven-under in his 27 holes since. He made four birdies on the back-nine, including on both par-fives. He laid up from the pine straw on 13 and got up and down. Then, on the 15th, the same hole he chipped in for eagle on Thursday in what he later called his “luckiest” shot, he two-putted from behind the green for another birdie.

He ended his round in grand style, holing a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th. His 68 is his 10th sub-70 round in 30 career trips around Augusta National. Rose, who looked like he was running away with the tournament following a seven-under 65 on Thursday, let a bunch of players back in it after scrambling for an even-par 72. Spieth noticed, and he believes he’s in a prime position for the weekend.

“That was nice, in a sense, right. Because then you’re sitting there going, all right, I’m just sticking to my goal,” Spieth told CBS’s Scott Van Pelt in Butler Cabin after his round. “I don’t have to try to force anything. And then now being two back, going into a difficult course on the weekend, if I can shoot five-under on the weekend that might be good enough.”

Spieth already has one Green Jacket in his closet and came close to adding another in 2016 and 2018. This will be the eighth time he’s been in the top-five of a major after two rounds; he went on to win three times and never finished worse than third. The last two times he’s shot under-par in the first two rounds at Augusta, he’s either won or been runner-up, according to The Athletic’s Justin Ray.

Playing in the group in front of Spieth, Justin Thomas was making his own quick turnaround. Thomas was three-over making the turn on Thursday and shot 73. On Friday, he didn’t make a bogey until the 18th, ending a streak of 27 consecutive bogey-free holes.

Thomas birdied all three holes around Amen Corner on Thursday. At the par-five 13th, he hit his second shot from the fairway to 11 feet and a good chance for eagle. While he missed the putt, he still tapped in for his fifth birdie of the round. He added another on the 15th in a five-under round of 67. He’s currently in a tie for sixth, three back of Rose.

Unlike Spieth, Thomas has never won the Masters. But he has improved his standing in each of his five appearances at Augusta National. He was fourth in November and will now head to the final 36 holes in prime position for his first Green Jacket.

Scoring conditions at Augusta on Friday were much better than in the first round. Slight rain overnight softened up the course, and there was barely a breath of wind all day. Spieth and Thomas took full advantage. Now comes the hard part: keeping up for two more rounds.