Jordan Spieth's struggles continue, misses cut at the TPC River Highlands

CROMWELL, Conn. — What’s wrong with Jordan Spieth?

“The things I've been working on are so drastic that it's just really difficult to try and play through it,” he said Friday at the Travelers Championship.

What exactly those things are he didn't elaborate, but his struggles were evident through two days at TPC River Highlands, where his two-day two-over total on the birdie-friendly track resulted in a missed cut following a second-round 69.

It's just the third weekend off this year for the 25-year-old three-time major champion, but his winless drought is 100 weeks and counting. The frustration with his play is starting to mount, too.

At the Travelers, where two years ago Spieth holed a bunker shot to win in a playoff before going on to capture the claret jug at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale (his last victory), Spieth struggled with his driving as well as his irons, ranking outside the top 100 in the field in strokes gained/off the tee and strokes gained/approach. He also hit just 50 percent of his greens in regulation and 18 of 28 fairways.

One of those misses came on Thursday, when he pulled his tee shot left and onto the train tracks adjacent to the 13th hole. Spieth found the fairway after reloading but rinsed his next shot with a fairway wood on the par 5 and went on to make an 8.

Things didn’t go much smoother in another soggy round on Friday. And unlike some recent weeks when his putting had bailed him out, Spieth’s putter wasn’t sharp this time.

Hovering near the cut line with five holes to play, he came up 20 yards short of the green on the 218-yard par-3 fifth, then missed a three-foot par putt. One hole later, Spieth pulled his tee shot into the rough, was forced to lay up, then left his third short of the green. After chipping to 15 feet, he missed another par putt for a second straight bogey.

“You cant just go out there and just swing so you're constantly thinking more than you want to,” he said. “I'll get some time off here. I don't know how much yet, but kind of get away from the game for a little reset and then try and finish the year strong.”

Spieth added that he’s considering playing the John Deere Classic the week before the Open at Portrush a month from now but admitted that the state of his game is frustrating.

“I need to gain significant control of the golf ball tee-to-green,” he said. “On and around greens I'm in a better place than I've been in the last couple years going into the British, so hopefully a little reset button helps and just kind of nail down what I've been working on.”