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PGA Championship

Jordan Spieth searching for answers after missing cut

Steve DiMeglio
USA TODAY Sports

EDISON, N.J. — Golf happens.

Jordan Spieth signals after his tee shot at the 8th hole during the second round of The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club.

How else does one explain Jordan Spieth’s performance this week?

The newly minted world No. 1 and winner of the year’s first two majors had been on a roll since November, racking up six wins worldwide and 17 top-10s in 23 starts, before he headed down the New Jersey Turnpike to Plainfield Country Club for The Barclays, the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs.

And then his wheels fell off, proving once again that life is full of unpredictable events. While he said he wasn’t a big fan of the course following an opening 4-over-par 74 on Thursday, Spieth, the runaway leader of the FedExCup, has won on courses that didn’t fit his eye. This one, however, gave him a black eye.

With a second-round 73 under sunny skies, Spieth missed the cut by five shots and finished 14 shots behind Bubba Watson, who fired a 68 to grab the 36-hole lead at 7 under. A stroke back is Henrik Stenson (66), Tony Finau (69), Jason Dufner (68) and reigning British Open champion Zach Johnson (65).

“Yeah, tough week. I’m definitely searching for answers,” said Spieth, who will next play in next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. “I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do from here as far as how I get prepared for next week, but I have some time to figure it out. We don’t start ’til Friday.”

Golf happens, even to the best players in the world. Golf happened to a lot of players Friday, including Rickie Fowler, who took a 7 on the par-4 10th and an 8 on the par-4 17th when he hit two balls out of bounds. Joining him and Spieth on the wrong side of the cutline were Adam Scott, Brooks Koepka and defending FedExCup champion Billy Horschel.

For Spieth, the putts didn’t fall, the bounces weren’t kind. The driver was a hair off, the iron play a bit spotty, his short game near the greens was average at best.

And he even stepped on his ball. Yes, while searching for his ball in thick grass on the 12th hole, Spieth’s right foot found it. Unfortunately, that’s a one-stroke penalty. Which came in addition to the one-stroke penalty he took for taking a drop because his ball was unplayable in the hazard.

On Friday Spieth was looking for his typical bounce-back round. He opened with a birdie to raise hope, then made four bogeys in five holes starting on the fourth. Hope reemerged after birdies on 10 and 11 but then he found the hazard with his second shot on 12, his foot found the ball and his momentum got lost in the high grass. A bogey on the last seemed fitting to a bad 48 hours.

And now Spieth, who became the game’s top gun two weeks ago with his runner-up finish in the PGA Championship, falls to No. 2 as Rory McIlroy will reclaim the top spot when the rankings are released Monday.

“It is what it is, and hopefully I can just retain it when we’re both playing in the same tournament,” Spieth said. “ ... I’ve reached that peak already and I know it’s going to be close enough to where if I just get the job done next week, I’ll be back in that ranking. But again, that ranking, it’s great once you reach it but it’s not something that I’m going to live or die on each week.

“In my mind, it’s just about trying to win the FedExCup at this point.”

It was Spieth’s third missed cut of the season. After missing the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open, he finished in a tie for seventh the following week in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. When he missed the cut in The Players Championship, he finished tied for second in his next start in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

The Barclays missed cut irritated him the most.

“Because it happened about an hour ago,” Spieth said.

In seven days, he get back at it at TPC Boston.

“Billy Horschel won the FedExCup after missing the cut in the first event last year and I’m in a better position to win the FedExCup than he was at the time,” Spieth said. “So why can’t I do it, you know?”

Follow Steve DiMeglio on Twitter @Steve_DiMeglio.

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