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.

On an otherwise sleepy afternoon at a course where no one could get some separation, two peculiar moments stood out — a bad time for Watson, bad golf from Spieth.

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, returns to No. 1.

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“I’ve reached that peak already and I know it’s going to be close enough to where if I just get the job done next week, I’ll be back in that ranking,” Spieth said. “But again, that ranking, it’s great once you reach it but it’s not something that I’m going to live or die on each week.”

McIlroy becomes the 14th player since the world 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.

Ultimately, what matters to Watson, Spieth and others is winning the Tour Championship to capture the $10 million bonus.

PGA Tour rookie Justin Thomas had a few late bogeys for a 69 and shrugged when asked if he was happy with his score. He was seven shots back.

Watson was at 7-under 133.

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CHAMPIONS TOUR: Paul Goydos and Gene Sauers shared the first-round lead at 6-under 66 in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, New York.

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.

EUROPEAN TOUR: England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick and Sweden’s Pelle Edberg each shot 5-under 67 to share the second-round lead in the Czech Masters in the Czech Republic.

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

LPGA: 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 in Prattville, Alabama.

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.

Thirty-nine players were unable to finish the round because of more rain and darkness.

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