Spieth’s missed cut at The Barclays costs him world No. 1
That was fast.
Jordan Spieth’s first reign as No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking will end on Sunday night after the two-time 2015 major winner missed the cut at The Barclays in New Jersey.
From the outset, Spieth said the Donald Ross-designed Plainfield Country Club didn’t fit his eye, not appreciative of green complexes that require wedge shots to be thrown past the hole with the hope of spinng back toward the pin. After getting out to a good start on Thursday with an opening birdie on the 10th hole, Spieth’s second nine in Round 1 turned into a disastrous 5-over 40.
Spieth got out to a similar good start on Friday, needing a round of 68 or better to make the cut. He birdied the first, but then, after two pars, got on the bogey train, making four bogeys around a birdie in a five-hole stretch.
Things got worse on the par-5 12th when Spieth’s second shot landed short of the green in a hazard. While searching for his ball, Spieth accidentally stepped on it in the weeds. He took a drop and made what he believed was a bogey 6. However, a PGA Tour rules official later informed Spieth he should add a penalty stroke under Rule 18-2a.
“My intentions were if I see it, I’m going to play it, and if I don’t see it, I’m going to take my drop and play it as a water hazard,” said Spieth. “Because my intention was possibly to still play it, it’s a penalty and that was made clear, no matter what I declared to [caddie Michael Greller] ahead of time. I just wanted to be certain about it.”
Spieth needed to finish inside the top 14 to maintain the No. 1 ranking he earned two weeks ago from Rory McIlroy after finishing second to Jason Day at the PGA Championship. McIlroy isn’t playing this week.
The two-week reign isn’t the shortest of the 60 had since the Official World Golf Ranking started just before the ranking debuted before the 1986 Masters. Tom Lehman was No. 1 for one week in June 1997 before Greg Norman took the mantle before seven weeks, leading into Tiger Woods’ first reign at No. 1. Of the 18 players, including Spieth, to have held the No. 1 ranking, Lehman is the only one to have ever held it for just one week in their career.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
