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Golf Monthly
Golf Monthly
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Elliott Heath

9 Big Names To Miss The Cut At The 2024 Open

Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy and Ludvig Aberg.

We're halfway through the 152nd Open Championship where Shane Lowry holds the 36-hole lead after two stunning sub-70 rounds at Troon.

The leaderboard is packed with big names behind him with the likes of Justin Rose, Scottie Scheffler, Jason Day, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay all under-par.

However, a surprisingly large number of huge names are heading home early including Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods as well as US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

We take a look at some of the standout names to miss the cut, which came at seven-over-par, at The Open including three of the world's top five and seven of the world's top 12...

Tyrrell Hatton +8 (73, 77)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Englishman has a brilliant links record but a disappointing back nine saw him miss his first Major cut of the year and his first in any Major for three years.

Hatton was two-over after 28 holes and still well in the tournament before dropping six strokes in his final eight holes.

Bryson DeChambeau +9 (76, 75)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

DeChambeau played a fine final 27 holes but his start to the championship was ultimately too tough to come back from.

The US Open champion found himself six-over after eight holes on Thursday morning and couldn't recover enough to make the weekend, which continues his underwhelming links golf record.

In seven Open appearances now, DeChambeau has one top-10, no other top-30 finishes and three missed cuts.

Ludvig Aberg +9 (75, 76)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Swede came into the week as one of the favorites for the Claret Jug despite having never played in an Open before.

He misses the cut in his debut and, like many on this list, played in the most difficult conditions in the early-late wave.

The World No.4 has now had a full season in the Majors, with his record reading 2-MC-T12-MC. An impressive start to life as a pro with plenty more to come you'd have to think.

Tommy Fleetwood +9 (76, 75)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Tommy Fleetwood cut a devastated figure walking down the 18th hole on Friday evening in the knowledge that he was missing the cut at The Open for the first time since 2015.

The Englishman has an excellent record in golf's oldest Major, having been 2nd to Shane Lowry in 2019, T4th in 2022 and T10th last year.

He came into the week high in confidence but ultimately heads home after shooting nine-over-par, having played in the toughest of the conditions at Troon.

"It was tough. Yeah, look, conditions are tough, the golf course is tough. But it's your job to figure it out and to put in a score, and I just couldn't do that," he said.

Viktor Hovland +10 (75, 77)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Hovland surprisingly finished 3rd at the PGA Championship after returning to swing coach Joe Mayo - who he split with at the end of last year - but he's gone on to miss the cut in all three of the other men's Majors.

For a player who won the FedEx Cup last year and starred in Europe's Ryder Cup victory, it has to go down as a very disappointing Major season.

The Norwegian managed just one birdie over two days at Troon this week.

Rory McIlroy +12 (78, 75)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

McIlroy admitted he was just hoping to make the cut after an opening 78 (his highest score since 2021) and his hopes had vanished after just four holes of round two.

The Northern Irishman dropped a shot at the 3rd before coming undone at the 7th, where he made a triple bogey 8 after topping a shot in the thick rough and then chipping it across the green into a bunker. 

The World No.2 fought valiantly on the back nine, though, which he played flawlessly with two birdies and seven pars.

His US Open agony may hurt even more now as the realization hits it that it's another Majorless year with nine months to go until Augusta.

It's his first missed cut in The Open since Royal Portrush, 2019.

Cameron Smith +12 (80, 74)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The damage was done on Thursday for Cameron Smith, who slumped to a surprising 80 after opening with a bogey and a triple to turn in seven-over.

The Australian, who won the 150th Open at St Andrews two years ago, comfortably finished short of the +7 mark to miss his first Major cut in over two years.

Tiger Woods +14 (79, 77)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Woods misses his third consecutive Major cut, and by some margin, after a disappointing two days at Royal Troon.

The 15-time Major winner, who has won three Claret Jugs, started strongly on Thursday with two pars and a birdie but it immediately started to go downhill.

We'll next see him at the Hero World Challenge in December, the small-field event he hosts in The Bahamas.

"I'd like to have played more, but I just wanted to make sure that I was able to play the Major championships this year," he said.

"I got a lot of time off to get better, to be better physically, which has been the case all year. I've gotten better, even though my results really haven't shown it, but physically I've gotten better, which is great.

'I just need to keep progressing like that and then eventually start playing more competitively and start getting into kind of the competitive flow again."

Wyndham Clark +16 (78, 80)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Of the 154 men to complete 36 holes, the 2023 US Open champion beat just seven of them.

Clark's disappointing year continues, with his 2024 Major season reading MC-MC-T65-MC.

It's not form you'd expect from the World No.5, although he does have a miserable Major record aside from his win at LACC last year. From 11 appearances he has one win, six missed cuts and a next-best finish of T33.

Other notables to miss the cut at the 2024 Open:

  • Keegan Bradley +7
  • Will Zalatoris +8
  • Louis Oosthuizen +8
  • Tony Finau +10
  • Tom Kim +11
  • Sahith Theegala +14
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