Golf: Spieth misses cut at Barclays; Watson leads

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EDISON, N.J. — Jordan Spieth lost out on a chance to play the weekend at The Barclays.

EDISON, N.J. — Jordan Spieth lost out on a chance to play the weekend at The Barclays.

He also lost his No. 1 ranking.

Bubba Watson, momentarily distracted by a rare warning for taking too long to play a shot, recovered with a birdie on the 18th hole at Plainfield Country Club for a 2-under 68 and a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the opening FedEx Cup playoff event.

Trying to rally to make the cut, Spieth hit into a hazard on the 12th hole, and a bogey later became a double bogey when he was penalized one shot for stepping on his ball during the search. He had a 73, the first time since the Tour Championship last year that he had consecutive rounds over par.

He missed the cut by five shots. That means Rory McIlroy, who isn’t playing this week, returns to No. 1. McIlroy is the 14th player since the ranking began in 1986 to get to No. 1 without playing that week.

Watson is in good shape through 36 holes to claim his own No. 1 ranking — a victory would move him to the top of the FedEx Cup. Much like the world ranking right now, that figures to change by the week.

Watson was at 7-under 133.

British Open champion Zach Johnson made five birdies to go with four par-saving putts from outside 8 feet for a 65. He was tied for second with Henrik Stenson (66), Tony Finau (69) and Jason Dufner (68).

YOKOHAMA TIRE LPGA CLASSIC

PRATTVILLE, Ala. — Yani Tseng closed with an eagle and a birdie for an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke lead in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.

Tseng hit a 6-iron to 4 feet to set up the eagle on the par-5 eighth hole just before play was delayed for about 90 minutes because of lightning and rain, then took the outright lead on the par-4 ninth with her sixth birdie of the day.

Ranked No. 1 in the world for 109 weeks, the 26-year-old Taiwanese player has slipped to 75th and is winless in 85 events since the 2012 Kia Classic. The 15-time tour winner tied for second in March in the LPGA Thailand for her only top-10 finish of the year.

Tseng reached 10-under 134 on the links-style Senator Course with her lowest round since a 63 in the 2013 LPGA Thailand.

Austin Ernst was second after a 65, and playing partner Lexi Thompson, the 2011 winner at age 16, was third at 8 under after a 67.

Sydnee Michaels and Julieta Granada were still on the course at 7 under when play was suspended for the day because of more rain and darkness. Michaels had four holes left, and Granada two.

DICK’S SPORTING GOODS OPEN

ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Paul Goydos and Gene Sauers shared the first-round lead at 6-under 66 in the Champions Tour’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.

Goydos had a bogey-free round at En-Joie. He won the Allianz Championship in February in Florida for his second victory on the 50-and-over tour. Sauers had seven birdies and a bogey.

John Huston, the 2011, winner was a stroke back along with Ian Woosnam.

Defending champion Bernhard Langer had a 71.

CZECH MASTERS

VYSOKY UJEZD, Czech Republic — England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick and Sweden’s Pelle Edberg each shot 5-under 67 to share the second-round lead in the European Tour’s Czech Masters.

Fitzpatrick and Edberg were at 11-under 133 on the Albatross course. The 20-year-old Fitzpatrick won the 2013 U.S. Amateur.

Belgium’s Thomas Pieters was a stroke back after a 68.