Stars of the game have risen to the top of the leaderboard at the 2024 U.S. Open with names like Ludvig Åberg, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay and Hideki Matsuyama set to duke it out over the weekend for the national championship. While some have surged across the first two rounds, others have struggled and will be without a weekend tee time at Pinehurst No. 2.
Chief among the notables to miss the cut is Tiger Woods. Appearing in his first U.S. Open since 2020, the 15-time major champion battled tough late on Friday as his name creeped close to the 5-over cutline. After opening with a 4-over 74, Woods was unable to cash in crucial birdie bids on his back nine to secure a place in the field for the second half of this championship and finished his week at 7 over. Woods' missed cut represents just the 25th of his professional career, his 14th in a major and his fifth in the U.S. Open.
World No. 5 Viktor Hovland is the highest-ranked player in the world to be missing from the weekend tee sheet. After contending at the PGA Championship, the Norwegian appeared prime to continue his run of form into the U.S. Open. Hovland got punched in the face immediately on Thursday opening with an 8-over 78 which proved too much to overcome for the reigning FedEx Cup champion. Hovland battled back with a second-round 68 and did well to threaten the cutline, but a couple late bogeys put Hovland at 6 over.
At the same score stood Max Homa. The Californian had a chance to play himself back into the tournament following his first-round 71, but poor decision making and shot making saw Homa card a second-round 75 that featured six bogeys and just one birdie.
The rare aggressive club choice out of the wiregrass attempt...
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 14, 2024
It didn't go well 😬 pic.twitter.com/mAs1O6UB6b
Justin Thomas experienced a similar U.S. Open to Hovland as he carded a first-round 77 to put himself behind the eight ball. The two-time PGA Championship winner did not get much going on Friday alongside Collin Morikawa and Brooks Koepka and settled for a round of 74 to miss the cut with ease.
While Thomas did connect on a top-10 finish at the PGA Championship in his backyard of Louisville, he has continued to struggle on the major stage missing now five of the last seven cuts. Another two-time major champion in Dustin Johnson followed the same fate of Thomas missing his third cut in his last four majors dating back to last season.
Here's a look at the other notables who missed the cut this week at the 2024 U.S. Open.
Notable players to miss the cut
| Player | Score |
|---|---|
Viktor Hovland | +6 |
Max Homa | +6 |
Robert MacIntyre | +6 |
| Tiger Woods | +7 |
Will Zalatoris | +8 |
Jason Day | +8 |
| Dustin Johnson | +9 |
| Rickie Fowler | +9 |
| Justin Thomas | +11 |
| Phil Mickelson | +15 |
