Spieth says he’s being too hard on himself as he misses Players cut

Jordan Spieth didn’t make the cut at The Players on Saturday, but he walked away with a closing birdie and a revelation.

Spieth made a 15-foot birdie on the final hole, wrapping up his second round after Friday play was called due to darkness. He finished at 1-under 143, one shot off making the weekend, which he’ll have off during The Players for the second year in a row.

“I think that one came a little too late,” he said afterward.

The birdie, however, is a positive parting memory for Spieth as he prepares to enter the busy summer stretch which continues next week in his hometown at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Finishing up with a circle on the card isn’t as important for Spieth, however, as his realization that he’s being too hard on himself on the golf course.

“I’m beating myself up a little bit too much on the golf course, and it’s affecting me,” Spieth said. “And I realize that now.”

Spieth is making changes to his golf swing with teacher Cam McCormick, and his putting has suffered in neglect. It was hard for the two-time major winner to find a rhythm in his first start since giving up a five-shot final-nine lead at the Masters. It didn’t help playing alongside world No. 1 Jason Day as he set The Players’ 36-hole scoring record at 15 under par.

“It’s tough when you’re getting shellacked by 15 shots in the same group, you know?” he said.

“When someone is birdieing every other hole, you start to wonder why in the world you aren’t making any of them. A lot of times, it’s good if you can feed off of it. But for me, it was tough this week without my putting being on. It just led to a lack of patience for me seeing every hole being birdied and not being able to do much about it.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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