NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Jordan Spieth is going to miss the Tour Championship for the first time in his professional career. And he will face a possible penalty from the PGA Tour for failing to play enough events this year as part of its field enhancement criteria.
The three-time major champion, who was in contention to win both the Masters and The Open this year, didn’t do enough at the other tournaments nor at the BMW Championship to advance to the season-ending tournament in Atlanta, which is for the top 30 players in FedEx Cup points.
He ended up 31st, having never finished worse than 15th in the final standings in each of the past five years. Spieth won the FedEx Cup in 2015.
“I was in control of my own destiny and didn’t have it this week,” said Spieth, who shot 73 on Monday at Aronimink Golf Club to tie for 54th. “Was riding some momentum (after the Dell Technologies Championship) but all in all, just game kind of got a little off.”
Spieth, 25, came into the week in the top 30 in points but couldn’t recover from a second-round 71 in which he was one of just six players to shoot over par.
Bryson DeChambeau enters the Tour Championship atop the FedEx Cup points race. Justin Rose climbed to second after his second-place finish at the BMW Championship on Monday.
Tiger Woods moved from 25th to 20th in the playoff standings with his sixth-place finish at the BMW. Woods, coming back from injury, made the Tour Championship for the first time since 2013.
Keegan Bradley moved up 46 spots to No. 6 with his win Monday. Xander Schauffele climbed 23 places to 18th to earn a spot.
Spieth and Emiliano Grillo were the only two players who fell out of the top 30.
Projected 31st in the FedEx points heading into the final round, Spieth was given a reprieve when the tournament was not shortened to 54 holes. But he couldn’t take advantage Monday, playing his first five holes in 3 over par and ending up with a 3-over 73 that had him depending on others.
“I didn’t think that it mattered much but I knew if I could shoot 4-, 5-under in tough conditions that it would make a little bit of a difference,” Spieth said. “But that second round. … you can’t shoot over par here and that threw me so much (further back). A really solid round today is the difference of potential outcomes where I could do better.”
Spieth began the year ranked second in the world but has dropped to 10th after failing to win and posting just five top-10 finishes. His best chances to win came at the Masters, where he tied for third, and at The Open, where he was the 54-hole leader before finishing tied for ninth.
Spieth now faces potential sanctions from the PGA Tour for failing to play 25 events in the 2017-18 season.
As part of a rule put in place last year to help strengthen fields, the tour requires players who are not lifetime members or veterans (think Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh) to play at least one event per year that they have not played in the past four. The requirement can be waived if a player competes in 24 events in either the previous or current season.
Last year, Spieth met the 1 in 4 rule and played 24 times. This year he did not add a new event, and the Ryder Cup — which counts — will give him just 24. He needed to make the Tour Championship field to get to 25.
The PGA Tour’s regulations stipulate a major penalty, which could be a fine or a suspension, although commissioner Jay Monahan has discretion, and it’s unclear if any sanctions would be announced. The PGA Tour does not typically announce fines or suspensions.
“I assume it will either be a fine or I’m adding some in the fall,” Spieth said. “I don’t know if that counts. I’m not sure. I talked to the tour a little while back and I didn’t really think much of it and it becomes a situation then. I obviously accept whatever fine it is and move on and try and add one (new event) every year. But it’s kind of tough.”