U.S. Open: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy among stars to miss the cut

This year’s U.S. Open has returned to form as the toughest test in golf. With brutal conditions at Shinnecock Hills, several of golf’s top players are going home early.

Fans of the U.S. Open typically fall into two different categories. There are those who watch the national championship to see arguably the best field in the game compete for one of its oldest titles. Then, there are those who just want to watch the world burn, with those same players brought to their knees by the USGA’s brutal course setups.

For those who fall into the latter group, this week at Shinnecock Hills is a celebration. There is just one player under par so far this week, and that’s Dustin Johnson. Considering that he’s the best player on the planet today, that’s not too big of a stretch.

Of the 67 players who made the cut this week, there’s still a decent amount of star power. Phil Mickelson, the emotional favorite, is tied for 35th heading into Moving Day. Bryson DeChambeau – who called Thursday’s conditions at Shinnecock “clown golf” – is a shot ahead, tied for 26th with Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed and more. Rickie Fowler (T-9), Justin Thomas (T-14), and Justin Rose (T-4) are all technically in contention as well.

When you go below the cut line, though, the amount of big name players who are headed home early is even more surprising. You could put together one heck of a tournament with just the players who won’t be teeing it up on Saturday.

Top stars who missed the cut at the U.S. Open

Out of the world’s top ten players, just six made the cut at Shinnecock Hills. Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day are all gone. So is Sergio Garcia, still ranked No. 15 in the world despite months of poor play.

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Then, of course, there’s Tiger Woods. The 14-time major winner has played far better this year than just about anybody could have predicted, which led many to believe that he could legitimately chase his No. 15 this week at the U.S. Open. It’s been a decade since his famous playoff win over Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines, but it simply wasn’t meant to be. Woods continues to struggle with his short game, and he flirted with disaster a few too many times.

When Woods was asked about the difficulty of this particular U.S. Open, he pretty much nailed the reason so many stars, himself included, went home early.

"“I think [all the majors are] hard,” said Woods. “They’re not easy. I mean, I’ve won a few of them over the course of my career, and they’re the hardest fields and usually the hardest setups. So they’re meant to be testers. You don’t win major championships by kind of slapping all around the place and missing putts. You have to be on.”"

It’s not like none of these guys had a shot, though. McIlroy made four birdies on the back nine Friday just to get to +10, after making two bogeys and a double on his first nine holes. Spieth got even closer, pushing to +7 before making bogey on his last two holes, and missing the cut by a single shot.

Is the U.S. Open setup at Shinnecock unfair? Not by any reasonable standard.

At the end of the day, I’m never going to be one to condemn the USGA or the course for being “unfair” or “too tough”. Every one of these guys is playing the same course, and barring the luck of changing weather patterns, “fair” goes right out the window.

Now, is the course punitive? Absolutely. The fact that one of Dustin Johnson’s shots Friday left the fairway by about 5 feet, and it took 25 people to search for it is a bit excessive. But the U.S. Open is known for putting a premium on accuracy. Players are aware of this going in, and several – including Woods and McIlroy – put in significant amounts of practice time at Shinnecock ahead of the championship. It all comes down to execution.

What the U.S. open does better than any other championship is testing literally every facet of a golfer’s game, both mental and physical. At places like Shinnecock, you can’t simply hope to overpower the course anymore. The most well-rounded, balanced golfer is typically the one who comes out on top at these setups. And there’s nothing at all wrong with that.

Next: Dustin Johnson approaching historic milestone in his PGA TOUR career

The big names who missed this week’s cut will bounce back. Several have been No. 1 in the world, and will be again. They will win more majors, more FedEx Cup points, more Ryder Cups.

In the battle against the course this week, Shinnecock Hills won. On to the next one.

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