LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There’s an old saying, adopted by the New York State Lottery, that you have to be in it to win it.
Heading into the final two rounds of the 106th edition of the PGA Championship, there remain 78 players from the field of 156 who are still in it, so to speak. It took shooting 1-under-par 141 at Valhalla Golf Club, or 11 off the lead of Xander Schauffele, to be T-68 or better and make it to the weekend. The 36-hole cut was the lowest in PGA Championship history. 78 players under par after 36 holes this week is the most ever through two rounds of a major championship. The previous record was 71, at the 2006 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
Among those to sneak through and earn a third-round tee time was Dustin Johnson, who made birdie at 18 to make the cut on the number. Nicolai Hojgaard birdied the final two holes to sneak through too. Most impressive of all was Tommy Fleetwood, who ripped his second shot from 245 yards to 7 feet and rolled in the eagle putt at 18 to make it to the right side of the cutline. Kudos also to PGA club professional Braden Shattuck, who made a birdie at No. 8, his 17th hole of the day, to make the cut on the number as well as Jeremy Wells (-2), who have represented the club pros admirably by earning two more days between the ropes.
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Not everyone was so fortunate. Spain’s Adrian Otaegui suffered a sad demise in one of the final groups on Saturday morning. He took three putts at 17 and his third at 18 spun off the green and he missed the cut by one. Finland’s Sami Valimaki and club pro Ben Polland missed putts at their final hole that needed to drop on Saturday morning too. LIV’s Jon Rahm, who entered the week with the longest active streak of cuts made at the majors at 18, posted a score one shot too many and was sent packing early. The longest active streak now belongs to Hideki Matsuyama, who has made the cut in each of his last 16 consecutive major championship starts, including this week. Let’s take a look at some of the big names and other notables who exited early.
Jon Rahm
The longest active streak of cuts made at the majors entering this week is no more. Rahm had played the weekend at 18 straight majors but shot 70-72 to miss the cut by one.
The 2023 Masters champ overcame a sluggish start of four bogeys in his first six holes on Thursday to shoot 1-under 70. But his comeback stalled on Friday when he made a double bogey on 17, his eighth hole of the day, and failed to birdie any of his final four holes en route to shooting 72. He hit just 5 of 14 fairways on Friday and ranked 144th in the field in SG: Off the Tee. It’s just the second time in eight starts that Rahm has missed the cut at the PGA.
Matt Fitzpatrick
The 2022 U.S. Open champion can blame a poor putting week and underwhelming short game for his early exit. He made five bogeys on Friday and shot 2-over 73. On Thursday, he ranked second in the field in proximity to the hole on his approach shots but failed to convert, losing nearly a stroke to the field on the greens. On Friday, he was even worse: he lost more than 2 strokes and ranked 135th in SG: Putting for the two days. He was 2 of 7 in scrambling on Friday and that contributed to Fitzpatrick missing his fourth cut in 14 starts this season.
Ludvig Aberg
The Swedish sensation missed his first cut of the season in 11 starts. After skipping last week’s Signature event citing a knee issue, he threw up a dud in just his second appearance at a major. Aberg shot 72-70. Thursday was statistically one of his worst rounds of the year and while his game was sharper on Friday, his putter let him down. He ranked 127th in SGP (-1.438). Four of nine in scrambling indicates there is still work to be done to tidy up his short game if he’s going to give Scheffler a fight for No. 1 in the future.
Jason Dufner
The 2013 PGA champ impressed with 68 on Thursday but came back to Earth on Friday with a 75 as his SG: Approach the Green and SG: Around the Green nosedived.
It marked his sixth straight missed cut in the PGA. He hasn’t been much better when he’s played all four days. Since his win in 2013, he withdrew the following year and then went T-68, T-60, T-58, followed by the string of MCs.
Dufner is used to making an early exit. He missed the cut in all four of his starts this season and six straight dating back to last season.
Sam Burns
Burns had three double bogeys over two days and they cost him plenty. Burns shot 72-73 to miss the cut, his third straight weekend off at an event with a 36-hole cut, including both of the first two majors of the season. He also missed the cut at the PGA for the second straight year.
Blame the big stick and the short stick: Burns ranked T-146 in driving accuracy and 149th in Strokes Gained: Putting. That’s a recipe for a weekend off.
Sungjae Im
Im missed the cut at the PGA for the second straight year. He also has the weekend off at his third straight event with a 36-hole cut, including the Masters and PGA.
He made a double at his last hole on Thursday to shoot 2-over 73. A birdie at 14 on Friday had him to even but he proceeded to play the next three holes in 4 over and seal his fate.
The putter poisoned Im’s chances. He ranked T-139 in SG: Putting and lost nearly five shots to the field on the greens.
Adam Scott
The Aussie made his 24th career start at the PGA and missed the cut for the seventh time. However, it was the third time in the last four years that he left early.
Scott failed to make a birdie for his first 27 holes. He also scattered four bogeys on his front-nine scorecard. He shot 72-73.
Statistically, he was a mess off the tee on Thursday but straightened out that problem on Friday only for a balky putter to do him in. He ranked 149th in SG: Putting in the second round.
Phil Mickelson
Mickelson played in his 31st PGA Championship and was sent packing early for just the fourth time in his career. He shot rounds of 74-72 to miss the cut.
Lefty ranked dead last in the field in SG: Off the Tee on Thursday and wasn’t much better on Friday. He ranked 155th of 156 for two days, losing more than six strokes to the field. The two-time PGA champ made two costly double bogeys in Thursday’s opening round, including at 18 where he found the water.
Michael Block
The Cinderella story of the 2023 PGA didn’t have a fairytale finish this time. Block made a quadruple-bogey 8 on his second hole and he shot 76 on Thursday. He was slightly better on Friday, posting 73 but he missed more than half of his greens in two rounds and his short game was shabby too: he ranked 155th in the field in SG: Around the Green on Thursday. Block has a sponsor invite next week into the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Tiger Woods
Three putts on his final two holes spoiled a decent first round for Tiger, and had him fighting the cutline. But Friday’s round went off the rails early. Tiger had never made a triple bogey in 80 career rounds at the PGA Championship. On Friday, he made two triple bogeys in a span of three holes — Nos. 2 and 4 — and that did him in.
“Unfortunately my scores did not indicate how the people treated me and how great a week I had,” Woods said after his round. “Unfortunately, I hit too many shots.”
Woods, a four-time winner of the PGA Championship, lost more than five strokes to the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green. It was un-Tiger-like to hit 12 of 14 fairways but just 9 of 18 greens.
Matthieu Pavon
The Frenchman, who is ranked 22nd in the world and No. 10 in the FedEx Cup standings, had a rare off week. He shot 76-77 and missed just his second cut in 11 starts during his rookie season.
Pavon made a triple bogey at 17 on Thursday to fall to 7 over through 8 holes. He ranked 154th in proximity in the first round. On Friday, he made five bogeys on his front nine before his first birdie of the day. He ranked 154th in the field in SG: Putting and 155th of 156 in SGP for 36 holes. He also was 5 of 16 in scrambling (T-147).
Ben Polland
Polland, the PGA club pro champion in Frisco, Texas, earlier this month, made it to playing on Saturday but only to finish out his second round. Polland, 33, missed a 10-foot par putt at No. 9, his final hole of the day to miss the cut by one. He had two holes to play on Saturday morning to complete his second round. He shot 73-69, but missed the cut at the PGA Championship for the fourth time in four career starts.
Wyndham Clark
The reigning U.S. Open champion and world No. 4 has been enjoying a stellar season, including a win at Pebble Beach and a pair of seconds, but his performance in the majors has been dismal.
Clark shot 71-75 to miss the cut at the PGA after already missing the cut at his Masters debut last month. Blame his performance at Valhalla on his approach game. He ranked 155th of 156 golfers in the field in the second round in SG: Approach the Green, losing nearly six strokes. Sadly, he wasn’t much better around the green: No. 133 in the second round and No. 141 for the first 36 holes. He’s on deck as defending champion at the next major in June at Pinehurst.
