The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, Mexico, featured a handful of big name players in the field. Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Billy Horschel — all in the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking — lived up to their well deserved reputations by at least advancing to the weekend. Only Tony Finau, No. 14 in the world, didn’t get the job done.
He’s not the only notable name that isn’t moving on or will have a chance to make a run at the title. Here’s a closer look at some of the notables who failed to make the top 65 and ties and are heading home from the Yucatan Peninsula empty-handed.
Tony Finau, 3 under
Finau was playing for the first time since the Presidents Cup and the rust showed on Friday. Finau made a bogey at 18 to miss the cut by one stroke, his first weekend off since the U.S. Open in June.
Finau started with 68 on Thursday, needing just 21 putts. On Friday, he holed out for eagle at the par-5 seventh to cancel out two early bogeys. In the end, Finau’s short game let him down as he was 6 for 10 in scrambling, including 0 for 2 in sand saves.
Tom Hoge, 3 under
Hoge squandered a terrific start in Mexico. He posted a bogey-free 5-under 66 on Thursday. Considering that the world No. 33 hadn’t finished worse than T-13 in four starts during the fall season, a missed cut appeared unlikely. But on Friday, Hoge made two double bogeys in his first seven holes and shot 2-over 73 to miss the cut. Hoge has been boom-bust with six missed cuts in a row this summer through the British Open, but also six top-15 finishes since he broke that string with a T-4 at the 3M Open.
Ryan Palmer, 2 under
Ryan Palmer made bogeys on his first two holes of the tournament and three of his first five holes and never recovered from it. Palmer’s putter was cold on Thursday. He took 30 putts and shot 1-over 72. Palmer fought back with six birdies on Friday and was straddling the cutline late in the day when he made a bogey at 17, his third of the day, and settled for 68 and a 36-hole total of 2-under 140. He won’t be happy that he hit only 4 of 14 fairways on Friday, but his putting improved as he needed just 22 putts. But it was all in vain as he took one shot too many and has the weekend off to stew about it.
Justin Rose, 1 under
The 42-year-old Rose made eight birdies against just one bogey in 36 holes. Sounds good, right? Only problem is Rose made four double bogeys too. He was 4-over through his first five holes on Thursday, but battled back with six birdies to shoot 2-under 69. Friday, he hit only eight greens en route to shooting 72. He made par on his final five holes when he needed at least one more birdie.
This was Rose’s first start of the new season. He also missed the cut at his last event of the 2021-22 season at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Cameron Champ, 1 over
Scattering four bogeys and a double bogey on his opening-round card was Champ’s downfall in Mexico. He opened with 74 to dig himself a big hole and failed to make enough birdies on Friday. He has missed three of four cuts this season – though his made cut was a top-10 finish at the Zozo Championship. Champ also missed five cuts in a row this summer and had only two top-10 finishes last season.
Travis Vick, 13 over
The 22-year-old Texas senior made his second career PGA Tour start this week. This one didn’t go as well as his debut at the 2022 U.S. Open, where he finished T-43. Vick, who ranks No. 6 in PGA Tour U, opened with a 9-over 80. He struggled to find the fairways (5 of 14), greens (7 of 18) and couldn’t escape with pars (3 of 11 in scrambling). But the No. 10-ranked amateur in the world won’t have to wait long for his next chance: he received a sponsor exemption into next week’s Cadence Houston Open.
