NORTON, Mass. -- There are two differing viewpoints for analyzing Jordan Spieth's second consecutive missed cut, the only time in his young career he's suffered such a setback.
There's the school of thought that suggests he didn't budget his energy correctly this year, that he's gassed from both a physical and mental standpoint, that he has played too many tournaments, that he's no longer getting lucky breaks, that he has allowed himself to get too emotional on the course, that he has filmed too many commercials and thrown too many first pitches, even that his previous success might have been a fluke.
And then there's the correct assessment: If this is the worst thing to happen to him during a year in which he has won two majors and two other titles, then it really isn't so bad after all.
In the wake of Spieth's missed cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship, which followed a missed cut at the Barclays last week, there will be plenty of knee-jerk reactions to his four straight over-par rounds.
That criticism, though, will fail to recognize a few basic tenets of the thought processes of world-class players: One, they all hope to peak four times per year -- and FedEx Cup playoffs be damned, this isn't one of 'em; and two, despite the two missed cuts, Spieth is still in contention for the $10 million champion's bonus.
Basically, he picked the perfect time for his first-ever slump.
After a second-round 2-over 73 left him well below the cut line, Spieth was hardly sounding the alarm or making excuses.
"I'm hitting the ball just fine," he said. "I'm hitting the ball as well as I was in the PGA, as well as I was at the Open. I have control of the golf ball just fine. For whatever reason, I'm not scoring. Today was my putter. Yesterday was my distance control from the fairways. Just not everything is exact and fine-tuned like it has been this whole year."
Call it a page ripped straight from the Tiger Woods book on damage control.
Throughout his career, whenever Woods has posted an impressive round, he often points more to the negatives than positives. Conversely, when his score isn't anything great, he usually insists it wasn't as bad as the final tally indicated.
To be blunt, Spieth's last four rounds haven't been good. His scoring average was 68.96 for the first 76 rounds of this season; it's ballooned to 73.75 for the past four.
Texas' offense looking about as useful as my last 4 rounds....
— Jordan Spieth (@JordanSpieth) September 6, 2015Just as brilliant play after the year's major championships will be overly lauded in the short term, poor performances will be denounced too, perhaps a byproduct of the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately society which often doesn't consider anything that happened more than three tweets ago.
Not that we should simply write off Spieth's missed cuts as some non-sequitor.
If there's a major takeaway from these two weeks, it's that he understands the need to remain sharp -- not just with his clubs but with the mental aspect of his game.
"Normally my mental game is a strength of mine," he explained. "And it's something I feel like I have an advantage over other players on. These past two weeks, it was a weakness for me. And I've just got to go back and reassess how to remain positive."
That's some serious inward reflection from any player, let alone a 22-year-old.
Then again, Spieth isn't just any 22-year-old. He's a 22-year-old with wins at this year's first two majors and top-five finishes at the other two. He's also a 22-year-old who realizes what it will take for him to turn things around at the BMW Championship, starting in 12 days.
"I need to walk with some cockiness in my step these next two tournaments," he said. "That's going to be a big stage. I don't think I have to fix much in my game other than really work hard on my putting into Conway [Farms] and then mentally I can control that. I can control walking with the cockiness, whether things are going good or bad, and that's what you have to have inside the ropes. And I'll bring it when we get to Chicago."
With those words, Spieth made a beeline for the TPC Boston exit.
He wanted to get home, rest up for a few days, take his mind off golf. You can hardly blame him for this, just as you shouldn't blame him for a couple of minor stumbles near the end of a major breakthrough season.
Not that such talk will curb the criticism. It will keep percolating, the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately crowd seizing on his recent struggles.