While Scottie Scheffler was busy opening a huge lead at the Masters on Friday evening, a host of his USA Ryder Cup teammates missed the cut.
Those bettered by the difficult weather conditions included 2015 champion Jordan Spieth (+6), who went into the water twice at the 12th for the second time in his career to miss the cut at Augusta.
Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka (+6) also lost out, as did Bryson DeChambeau (+12) and Olympic champion Xander Schauffele (+7).
Tiger Woods (+1) looked to be joining them following a torrid start of four bogeys in five holes. But few embrace adversity with the enthusiasm of Woods, who fought back to post a 74 and finish one over par, a shot clear of an accidental European Ryder Cup group of Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm (all +2).
What was the Masters cut line?
A total of 89 golfers were vying for the Green Jacket after Paul Casey and Louis Oosthuizen’s late withdrawals through injury.
But not all of those who made it to the first tee on Thursday will be able to do the same on Saturday.
Now that each has player completed two full rounds on the course, the cut has taken place, leaving the top 50 to battle it out over the weekend.
That has been the case since the 2020 edition of the Masters. Until then, players within 10 stokes of the lead also made the cut even if they were not inside the top 50.
With windy conditions on Friday causing lots of scores to slip backwards, the cut line was four over par with eight players tied on that score in 45th place.
All those who scored five over par or worse missed the cut.
Big names to miss the cut
- +5: Padraig Harrington, Zach Johnson, Sam Burns
- +6: Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Mike Weir
- +7: Abraham Ancer, Xander Schauffele, Stewart Cink
- +8: Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Bernhard Langer, Gary Woodland
- +10: Freddie Couples
- +12: Bryson DeChambeau
- +14: Vijay Singh, Sandy Lyle
- +17: Jose Maria Olazabal
It was difficult to predict what score would guarantee a return on day three, often referred to as “moving day”, with the windy conditions on Friday causing many scores to slip backwards.
And with that weather looking set to continue over the weekend, it could have a huge role in determining the scores, and ultimately the result at Augusta.
After a 77-minute delay for poor weather during last year’s third round, Hideki Matsuyama finished six under par for his final eight holes and established a sizeable overnight lead which helped secure his first Green Jacket.
In 2020, at a record low scoring Masters, three under par was required to make the cut. On that occasion, two-time champion Bernhard Langer broke the record for the oldest ever player to make it to weekend at the age of 63.
This year’s cut-off point was closer to the 2021 score, when Rory McIlroy finished three shots off the three-over-par cut and missed out on the final two rounds for the first time since 2010. He managed to avoid that fate this year with a score of two over par and he will hope to improve on that over the weekend.
