After shooting 69-77 in the first two rounds of the Shell Houston Open this week, Jordan Spieth missed the cut and will have an early flight to Augusta National for the Masters. His six bogeys in Round 2 derailed him as he also finished outside the top 100 in approach shots.

This is Spieth’s first missed cut since The Players Championship in May 2016. 

But does it matter for next week’s Masters?

There has in recent years been a modest correlation between playing well in the weeks leading up to the Masters and winning the Masters, which is Spieth’s presumed goal. But Spieth has five other top 12 finishes this calendar year, including a win. A single missed cut in Houston doesn’t really set him back as much as some folks will probably tout next week. 

Heading into the 2016 Masters, Spieth finished T13 at the Shell Houston Open and went on to infamously finish T2 at Augusta. The year before, he lost in a playoff in Houston and won the Masters. In 2014, he missed the cut at Houston and finished T2 at the Masters. 

The common thread here? He’s just really good at Augusta.

“I don’t have two weekends in a row off very often,” Spieth said, who also missed out on the Round of 16 at the WGC-Dell Match Play last week. “Few years ago we missed the cut here and we had a chance to win on Sunday, so I’m not considering myself out of next week. 

“I think we know and the other players that are playing next week know that we strike fear in others next week. So that’s our idea, that’s going to be my confidence level going in, and we’ll step on the first tee ready to play.”

The other angle on this is that the weather in Houston at the end of the week is supposed to be a little sketchy. If the tournament spills into Monday, that could affect the preparation of some golfers. Still, Spieth acknowledged that he was upset over the missed cut.

“I was not playing this tournament just as a leeway into the Masters,” Spieth said. “I was playing this tournament because I love this tournament and we lost in a playoff here before. I know we can have success. Certainly tough go around the course today, and you know the weather in Augusta is not good on Monday, either.

“We come into every tournament with the idea that we want to win that week and our focus is on that week. Yeah, a bit disappointing in that sense.”

As for his plan for Augusta, he said it’s a little up in the air.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen with the end of this week into next week,” Spieth said. “Our plan is probably to get there by Saturday night or Sunday morning at this point and get to work. I’d like to be out there for Drive, Chip and Putt. I thought it was a really neat experience a couple years ago. I’ll be happy to support my jacket out there with the kids and get some work in that day.”

Patrick Reed and Adam Scott joined Spieth with missed cuts in Houston.