Post-Masters hangover?
Well, not for 2023 Masters champ Jon Rahm, the first golfer to play the week after winning a green jacket since Jordan Spieth in 2015.
Rahm shot 72-64 over the first two days at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and is inside the top 20.
Speaking of Spieth, the defending champion at the RBC Heritage shot 68-67 and is in the top 10.
Rahm and Spieth are among the 41 (out of the top 50) players in the Official World Golf Ranking in the field at the $20 million designated event.
The leader heading into the weekend is Jimmy Walker, who shot his second straight 65 to lead by three shots over Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose.
Here’s a closer look at those on the wrong side of the cutline, which came in at 2 under, on this Friday night.
Tom Kim, 1 under (71-70)
Kim had five birdies, four bogeys and a whole lot of pars over two days at the RBC. He missed the cut by one, however. A birdie on the par-3 9th, his final hole of his second round was too little, too late as he missed the cut by a shot.
Kim’s last MC was at the Sony Open in Hawaii in mid-January. He had made seven straight cuts after that till the RBC.
Stewart Cink, 1 under (68-73)
Stewart Cink, the 2021 winner of the RBC Heritage and a three-time winner of the event, opened with a 68 but came back Friday to post a 73 to miss a cut for a sixth consecutive tournament. He last played the weekend at the WM Phoenix Open two months ago. He’s only shot in the 60s twice during that stretch.
His second-round score was five strokes higher than his first, continuing a bit of a trend. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Cink was six shots worse (73-79) in the second round. At the Players Championship, he was nine shots worse (72-81). At the Valspar Championship, he was seven shots worse (69-76).
Joel Dahmen, 1 under (66-75)
Everyone’s favorite “Full Swing” star seemed like a shoe-in for the weekend after an opening round 66.
“Unbelievable. That was the best I hit this calendar year. I just haven’t hit it that great this calendar year. I don’t know exactly what clicked,” he said Thursday.
Friday was not so great.
His round, which started on No. 10, started with two straight bogeys. He birdied his third hole but had two more bogeys by the turn. A final bogey on his 12th hole followed by six straight pars kept him away from advancing.
Billy Horschel, 1 over (69-74)
Billy Horschel’s 69 on Thursday was followed up by a 74 and he missed the cut by two shots. But that 69 is the only sub-70 round from Horschel in his last 11 rounds in stroke-play events on the PGA Tour. Two of those rounds were 79s, once in the Players and again in the final round at the Masters.
Horschel had three birdies Friday but also had four bogeys and a double bogey on the par-3 4th hole, his 13th of the day.
Max Homa, 3 over (73-72)
Max Homa saw his streak of 15 consecutive cuts made come to an end at the RBC Heritage. Rounds of 73 and 72 just weren’t good enough at Harbour Town. His week included two double-bogeys and a triple bogey. His last missed cut came at the Open Championship at St. Andrews last July.
Xander Schauffle is the current cuts made leader with 22.
