Saturday 29 August 2015 22:27, UK
Rory McIlroy will return to top of the world rankings next week after current world No 1 Jordan Spieth missed the cut at The Barclays.
Despite McIlroy not featuring in this week's FedExCup opener, Spieth's early exit will see him slip below the four-time major champion when the latest Official Golf World Rankings (OWGR) are released on Monday.
Making his first start since moving above the Northern Irishman with a runners-up finish at the PGA Championship, Spieth followed up a season-worst 74 with a three-over 73 at Plainfield Country Club to fail to reach the weekend for only the third time in 22 starts this year.
The 22-year-old got off to the perfect start with a nine-foot birdie at the first, but lost ground by following a three-putt bogey at the fourth with another dropped shot at the next.
A gain at the short fifth only briefly stopped the bogey run as blemishes over the next two holes saw Spieth reach the turn two over for the round, but the No 1 seed bounced back with close-range birdies at the tenth and 11th.
Spieth got in to trouble at the par-five 12th after standing on his ball when attempting to relocate his second shot from the hazard. Facing a penalty for the infringement on top of the one for the drop, he carelessly chipped to the far side of the green and two-putted from 40 feet to card a double-bogey seven.
After five consecutive pars, Spieth bogeyed the last to become the first player in history to miss the cut in his first start since becoming world No 1.
Spieth will be back in action at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston, the second stop of the four-event, season-ending series, which gets underway on Friday.
"Tough week, I'm definitely searching for answers," Spieth said after he exited the Barclays.
"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."
As for losing his world No 1 ranking in such a short time, Spieth added: "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.
"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."
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