LOS ANGELES – Golf is cruel.
The U.S. Open will continue without Jordan Spieth, who made two bogeys in his last three holes to miss the cut on the number, and his pal Justin Thomas, who shot 81 on Friday, his second-highest round of his career. It was Phil Mickelson’s 53rd birthday — golf doesn’t care. You’re a SoCal native, Max Homa? Too bad. No matter who you are, it still hurts to pack your bags and hit the road on cut day.
“There is nothing fun about living on that cut line. I did it for 12 years,” said PGA Tour XM radio analyst Colt Knost. “It will make you pull your hair out if you have any left.”
After a day of record scoring on Thursday, the pros didn’t go quite as low in the second round but the cut still fell at 2-over 142. That meant 65 golfers, including Jon Rahm, who made the cut on the number to extend the longest active streak of made cuts in majors to 16, can still dream about hoisting the trophy at the 123rd U.S. Open on Sunday.
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Here are some of the big names who have the weekend off to mull over what went wrong.
Jordan Spieth, 3 over
Spieth, the 2015 U.S. Open champion, bogeyed two of his final three holes to miss the cut on the number.
On Friday, he made a birdie at the difficult par-3 11th to get back to even par for the tournament, but made three bogeys – at Nos. 13, 16 and 17 – to seal his fate. Spieth drove it crooked – hitting just 14 of 26 fairways – and his irons weren’t as precise as they have been this season as he ranked T-104 in proximity. Spieth, ranked 10th in the world, missed his third cut in his last five starts.
Phil Mickelson, 3 over
On his 53rd birthday, Mickelson made five bogeys and a double bogey and shot 74 to miss the cut by one. He thought his game was rounding into form but the dream of completing the career Grand Slam will have to wait another year. Mickelson’s vaunted short game was downright rotten this week: he was 4 for 12 in scrambling. Mickelson’s putter stunk on Friday. He lost more than two strokes on the greens. Mickelson missed the cut for the second straight year at the U.S. Open.
Justin Rose, 4 over
Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champ, played his first five holes in par but the next six holes in seven over. That was essentially the tournament for Rose, who had stone hands Thursday. He ranked 153rd in Strokes Gained: Putting, losing more than three strokes to the field.
But he stormed back on Friday, making eagle at 8 and birdies at 13 and 14 to improve to 4 under for the day and 2 over for the tournament. But as soon as he got on the right side of the cut line, the wheels came off with bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17. He shot 68 but it wasn’t enough to make it to the weekend.
Max Homa, 4 over
Homa, who grew up nearby Valencia, had high hopes of a breakthrough at a major in the Golden State where he has won four times on the PGA Tour but it was not to be. He still has never finished in the top 10 at a major after shooting 6-over 76 on Friday to miss the cut. Homa, who opened with a respectable 68, made back-to-back double bogeys at the difficult 17th and 18th holes to dig himself too big of a hole. Homa’s short game was his Achille’s Heel this week: he ranked 149th in SG: Around the green and was 5 for 13 in scrambling. At No. 7 in the world, Homa was the top-ranked player to miss the cut.
Adam Scott, 5 over
Scott missed his first cut in 13 starts this season on the PGA Tour and first in his last 21 starts dating to the 2022 PGA Championship. The former Masters champ shot 73-72, making just five birdies and 10 bogeys for 36 holes. His driver let him down as only one player in the field hit fewer fairways than Scott (9).
Keegan Bradley, 6 over
Bradley’s resurgent season has hit a snag of late. He missed just his fourth cut in 17 starts this season but hasn’t had a top-25 finish since March. Bradley struggled off the tee, hitting just 14 of 26 fairways and posted rounds of 72-74. A double bogey, bogey start to end his front nine doomed his fate.
Martin Kaymer, 6 over
Kaymer, the 2014 U.S. Open champ, skipped the PGA Championship last month because he didn’t think he could be competitive after undergoing surgery on his left wrist in November. He was sidelined for five months before began hitting balls again.
Kaymer said he had played a LIV event and had time to practice for LACC, but shot a pair of 73s to miss the cut.
Sungjae Im, 6 over
Im, the No. 19-ranked player in the world, made four bogeys in a five-hole span on his front nine on Friday to shoot himself out of the 123rd U.S. Open.
Im is officially in a mini slump, having missed three of his last four cuts. Before that he had finished in the the top 20 in six straight events.
Im struggled tee to green and his short game failed to bail him out. He got up and down just 10 of 18 times.
Jason Day, 9 over
Day, the 2015 PGA Championship winner, doubled his first hole of the day on Friday and failed to make a single birdie on the second nine. He finished with three bogeys in his final four holes to shoot 76 after posting 73 in mild conditions on Thursday.
It was a poor putting and approach shot week for Day, who missed his third straight cut since winning the AT&T Byron Nelson last month and fourth in his last five starts.
Justin Thomas, 14 over
Thomas laid an egg at the U.S. Open. The two-time PGA Championship winner and world No. 16 shot 81 on Friday and a 36-hole total of 14-over 154. He ranked dead last in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee.
Thomas made bogeys on his first four holes of the second round and it only got worse from there. He went on to make three double bogeys and missed the cut by a mile, his second straight missed cut in a row. He also missed the cut at the Masters and finished near the back of the pack (T-65) at the PGA Championship. The former world No. 1 avoided his worst score ever in 213 starts – an 82 in the final round of the 2016 RBC Heritage – with a late birdie at No. 8.
Thomas finished T-152 and beat just three golfers in the field, which sets a new low point for a disappointing season. Speaking to Golf Channel after the round, he called his performance “embarrassing” and said it was “the lowest he’s ever felt.”
