These big names missed the cut at the 2024 British Open at Royal Troon
TROON, Scotland – If the pros thought that Royal Troon Golf Club played tough on Thursday during the opening round of the 152nd British Open, well, they hadn’t seen nothing yet.
The wet stuff went away – for the moment – on the west coast of the home of golf but the wind howled and sent scores soaring on cut day. It took 6-over 148 or better to be among the 80 golfers to make the weekend. Troon sent some of the biggest names in golf packing for home. On the bright side, Prestwick Airport is close enough that flights coming and going fly over the course, so some of the players could see that their ride home was waiting.
Irishman Padraig Harrington summed up what is at stake and why the cut still matters.
“Cuts are always a nasty thing. Definitely if there was no cut line, I would have been a couple of shots better,” he said. “You do start thinking about it and I shouldn’t have.”
One of the players who fought his way to the weekend was Scotland’s own Robert MacIntyre. The Scottish Open winner a week ago made triple bogeys at No. 1 and 4 but battled back, shooting 4 under on his last 14 holes thanks to a pep talk from caddie Mike Burrow.
“I didn’t think I was going to make the weekend, but Mike said, ‘Look, fans are here to watch. Just give them what they want, a severe dig and fight,’ and that’s what I done,” MacIntyre said. “I just tried my best and managed to turn it around.”
Max Homa birdied two of the last three holes, including a 28-footer at the last. He roared with delight and clenched his fists.
“That felt very good,” he said. “This is my favorite tournament in the world. So to have the chance to play two more days, I don’t know, I had an out-of-body experience. I didn’t really expect to yell like I won a golf tournament. It just felt really good. I felt like I fought all day.”
Here’s a look at some of notable players who weren’t so fortunate.
Tyrrell Hatton tees off on the 16th hole during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon on July 19, 2024 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
Hatton, an Englishman, has struggled at the British Open. He missed the cut in five of his first six appearances in the championship. He made double bogeys at Nos. 4 and 12 en route to shooting 77.
Why did Tyrrell Hatton carry his own bag down the 12th fairway at The Open?
“After that tee shot on 11, this is what I deserve,” he told on-course reporter Curt Byrum. pic.twitter.com/CR6feBMric
— Josh Berhow (@Josh_Berhow) July 19, 2024
Keegan Bradley out of the bunker on the number 4 green during practice rounds at the Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Troon. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports
The newly-named U.S. Ryder Cup captain continued to struggle at the Open Championship. He shot 74-75 to miss the cut for the fifth straight time and has never recorded a top-10 finish in 11 appearances.
Henrik Stenson looks on from the 18th green during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon on July 19, 2024 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Eight years ago, Stenson authored one of the all-time performances in British Open history here at Royal Troon. This time, not so much. He had a triple bogey at the Postage Stamp on Thursday en route to shooting 77. He bounced back with 73 in the second round but missed the cut for the third time in the last four years at the Open.
Louis Oosthuizen plays his shot from the 12th tee during the second round of the Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Troon. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports
Oosthuizen, the 2015 Open champ, is playing LIV Golf these days and this was his lone major of the year. He opened with 78 and bounced back with 72 but the damage was done.
Will Zalatoris plays from the bunker on the 5th hole on the opening day of the 152nd British Open Golf Championship at Royal Troon on the south west coast of Scotland on July 18, 2024. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
Zalatoris has had an up-and-down season, missing the cut in half of his 12 starts. He has now missed the cut in back-to-back starts and withdrew with a back injury at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He finished T-9 in the Masters but missed the cut in his final two majors in his return this season from back surgery.
Tommy Fleetwood plays a shot from the rough on the 15th hole as his caddie Ian Finnis looks on during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon on July 19, 2024 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Fleetwood opened with a 76 and shot 75 on Friday. The Englishman missed his first cut since the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.
“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.
Fleetwood made the cut at the previous three majors, with a T-3 at the Masters.
Bryson DeChambeau reacts as he walks on the 18th hole during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon on July 19, 2024 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
The reigning U.S. Open champ shot 6-over 42 on his first nine holes on Thursday and that was the story of this major for him. He blamed his equipment but the reality is he didn’t hit enough fairways and missed some short putts early. He still hasn’t shown that his game translates to links golf, high wind and playing in inclement weather. But it was a tremendous major season for DeChambeau who held the 36-hole lead at the Masters before finishing T-6, finished second at the PGA Championship and became a two-time U.S. Open winner in dramatic fashion at Pinehurst.
Ludvig Aberg reacts on the 18th green during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Viktor Hovland waits on the 17th green during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon on July 19, 2024 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
The reigning FedEx Cup champion has been struggling with his game for most of the season and it didn’t go much better this week at Troon.
The Norwegian is seventh in the world but with the exception of a great performance at the PGA Championship, where he finished third, Hovland had three missed cuts at the majors. He shot 75-77, the first time he didn’t make the weekend at the Open in four starts.
Tony Finau Reacts on the 13th tee on day one of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon on July 18, 2024 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Finau handled the difficult conditions on Thursday, shooting even-par 71, but it all fell apart on Friday. He made a triple-bogey 7 at No. 9 and a quadruple-bogey 8 at No. 12 en route to shooting 81.
Finau had made the cut at the first three majors, including an impressive T-3 result at the U.S. Open.
Tom Kim plays from a green-side bunker on the eighth hole during his second round, on day two of the 152nd British Open Golf Championship at Royal Troon on the south west coast of Scotland on July 19, 2024. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
Kim hit just six greens in regulation in the first round and was none too happy with opening with 76. Well, it went even worse on Friday as he failed to make a single birdie and shot 77. He missed just his fourth cut in 18 appearances this season but his second in his last three starts. It was an uneventful major campaign – a pair of T-26s and a T-30 to go along with the MC here.
Rory McIlroy reacts as he walks off the 18th green during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon on July 19, 2024 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
McIlroy ended his latest major championship with a dud. After his U.S. Open heartbreak in June, he had one more chance to grab a major and went 78-75. He was 6-over through six holes on Friday, making an 8 on the fourth hole that sealed his fate.
“That was it, 22 holes into the event and I’m thinking about where I’m going to go on vacation next week,” he said.
McIlroy has now gone 10 years and 40 majors without a major championship victory and he’ll have to wait until April and the Masters for his next chance.
“When I look back on the two majors that I didn’t play my best at, here and the Masters, the wind got the better of me on Friday at Augusta, and then the wind got the better of me the last two days here,” he said. “I didn’t adapt well at all to that left-to-right wind yesterday on the back nine, and then this afternoon going out in that gusty wind on the front, as I said, it got the better of me, and I felt pretty uncomfortable over a few shots.”
Cameron Smith putts on the eighth green during his second round on day two of the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon. (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
The 2022 British Open champ shot himself out of this year’s championship on Thursday. He posted 9-over 80, the worse round of his career at the British Open.
“If you had have told me (Wednesday) that I was going to shoot that, I wouldn’t have said that was possible,” Smith said.
The Aussie followed with a 74 on Friday. He had made eight straight cut in majors. He finished T-6 at the Masters but was a non-factor at the PGA Championship (T-63) and U.S. Open (T-32)
Sahith Theegala plays his second shot on the 11th hole during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon. (Warren Little/Getty Images)
Theegala hit just six greens in the first round and shot 77. The second round was even worse: he made a triple-bogey 8 at No. 6 and shot 41 on the front nine and signed for 79. It was just his fourth missed cut in 20 starts this season. Theegala, No. 11 in the world, had made the cut in the first three majors with a best of T-12 at the PGA Championship.
Wyndham Clark watches his drive from the fourth tee during his second round on day two of the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon. (Photo by Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Clark, the world No. 5, had a dismal major season. He shot 79-80 and missed the cut by a mile. He also missed the cut at the Masters and the PGA Championship and finished T-56 in his U.S. Open title defense.
Clark had a double on the 11th and a triple on the 12th on Thursday and tripled 12 again on Friday.
Tiger Woods alks on the 18th fairway during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Woods signed for 6-over 77 on Friday and a 36-hole total of 14-over 156.
That’s the sixth time in his last seven majors that Woods had missed the cut or withdrawn.
It marked Tiger’s worst score to par after the first two rounds in 23 starts at the British Open, and second worst performance at the majors (16 over at 2015 U.S. Open). Tiger made the cut for a Masters record 24th consecutive time, but finished 60th and then missed the cut at the other three majors.
“I just wish I was more physically sharp coming into the majors,” he said. “I just wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be.”
