DETROIT – Golf is a fickle game.
One year you hit it on a string like Tony Finau did last year en route to a five-stroke victory. This year? Not so much.
One week, you play well enough to win a major as Hideki Matsuyama and Webb Simpson have done before. This week? They’re exiting early.
One day, you can make birdies galore and shoot 62 like Justin Thomas did last Saturday at the Travelers. This week? Thomas made fewer birdies combined in two days work and is hitting the road.
But 84 of 156 golfers shot at least 4-under 140 for 36 holes at Detroit Golf Club and are sticking around for the weekend to see if they can claim a PGA Tour title at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic ties the AT&T Byron Nelson for the most players to make the 36-hole cut on TOUR this season, with a tournament-record 84 players.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) June 30, 2023
Here’s a closer look at some of the notable names that missed the cut this week.
Webb Simpson, 2 under
Simpson is running out of time if he wants to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Entering the week at No. 157, he didn’t help his chances by missing his eighth cut in 15 starts this season.
Simpson, 37, opened with a three birdie, three bogey round of even-par 72. He was stuck in neutral again on Friday. He bogeyed No. 1 and made just one birdie on the front side at No. 7. He went birdie, bogey to start the back nine before tacking on a couple late birdies to post 70.
Tom Kim, 2 under
Kim had an off day on Thursday, shooting 1-over 73, and couldn’t overcome the sluggish start on Friday.
Known for his precision with his irons, Kim struggled tee to green in the first round despite hitting most of the fairways. It didn’t help that he was just five for 10 in scrambling for the week.
On Friday, he rallied with four birdies on the front nine to get to the right side of the cutline, but proceeded to make bogeys at Nos. 11 and 12.
This marked Kim’s fifth missed cut in 21 events, but his third weekend off in his last five starts.
Hideki Matsuyama, 1 under
He snapped a streak of nine straight cuts made. It marks just his third weekend off in 20 starts. Matsuyama dug a big hole on Thursday, shooting 3-over 75, and while he bounced back with a 68 on Friday, it wasn’t enough.
Matsuyama lost more than 2 ½ strokes to the field in his approach game on Thursday (147 out of 156), hitting just half the greens in regulation and it didn’t help that he was three for nine in scrambling. Matsuyama also struggled on the greens on Thursday, losing nearly 2 ½ strokes to the field with his short stick.
Tony Finau, 1 under
Detroit Golf Club got its revenge on Finau. The defending champion made mince meat of the Donald Ross layout last year, recording 27 birdies en route to the win. This time, he’s got the weekend off after shooting 72-71, becoming the third of four past champs to miss the cut in their title defense. Finau managed seven birdies but six bogeys hurt the cause.
Finau’s driver let him down. He hit just 16 of 28 fairways and ranked 125th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. He ranked 137th in SG: Tee to Green and 142nd in SG: Around the Green. It marked just his third missed cut in 19 starts this season.
Justin Thomas, 1 over
Thomas shot 81 at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, 62 at the Travelers last week and signed for 4-over 76 on Thursday, which ranked T-150 out of the field of 156. He ranked dead last in SG: Around the Green (-4.384). He was better on Friday (-1.638) but still ranked 152nd.
Thomas is No. 17 in the world but hasn’t been playing like it lately. This was his third missed cut in his last four starts.
Brandt Snedeker, 1 over
In just his third start since missing eight months with a rare sternum injury, Snedeker missed his second straight cut. He made five birdies on Thursday but shot 1-over 73. He was particularly poor off the tee, hitting just six fairways and losing more than 3 ½ strokes to the field off the tee (No. 154).
Tom Hoge, 2 over
Hoge had the worst round of the day on Thursday, shooting 7-over 79. He ranked last in the field in SG: Off the Tee and second-to-last in SG: Putting. He bounced back with 67 on Friday but the damage was done. He might want to consider skipping the Motor City next year as this was his third straight missed cut at the RMC.
Brian Stuard, 6 over
The Jackson, Michigan, native was hoping some home-cooking would do him some good, but not to be for Stuard, who missed his 10th straight cut. He hasn’t played a weekend since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. Stuard, who finished T-5 here in 2019, missed the cut in the Motor City for the third straight time.
“I thought I had something figured out and, I don’t know, maybe I still do, but just wasn’t quite ready yet, I guess,” Stuard said. “Just kind of disgusted with how I’m playing.”
