AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s the inherent nature of golf that even its finest exponents move inexplicably between the roles of pigeon and statue. Corey Conners won the Valero Texas Open five days ago and Kurt Kitayama claimed the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month. Neither will see weekend action at the 87th Masters. The list of the fallen includes those who might have been expected to survive the cut based on form (Min Woo Lee, who contended recently at the Players Championship) or formula (Tom Hoge, who leads the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained Approach but underperformed on a course known as the ultimate test of iron play).
But no exit is more surprising than that of Rory McIlroy.
