Spieth rues missed chances

Jordan Spieth shed a little insight on his expectations at the beginning of 2016 when he said his goals start with winning and include “being there” with a chance in a couple of major championships.

Two years later, he failed to win on the PGA Tour for the second time in six seasons. He was there with a chance at two majors, coming from nine back in the final round at the Masters to within one shot of the lead until a bogey on the 18th hole for a 64. At the British Open, he had a three-way share of the lead in the final round, fell back with bad swings and never caught up at Carnoustie.

The disappointment was missing the Tour Championship for the first time.

“I was in control of my own destiny and didn’t have it this week,” said Spieth, the only player from the top 10 in the world who won’t be at East Lake.

It didn’t help that Spieth, for the second straight season, sat out the entire fall portion of the PGA Tour schedule. Setting him back even further was missing nearly an entire month with mononucleosis.

That means he will fall short of the minimum 25 tournaments required for those who didn’t add to the schedule an event they haven’t played in four years. Still to be determined is the punishment. This policy falls under a “major penalty,” which comes with at least a $20,000 fine and a suspension of more than three tournaments, although the commissioner has the ultimate say and any suspension will not be in play. /