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John Deere Classic: Kevin Kisner among popular names to miss the cut john,deere,classic,kevin,kisner,among,popular,names,to,miss,the,cut,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour

On: July 6, 2024 By: admin

After two days of low scores, the John Deere Classic has cut its field in half. This week is a birdie marathon to see who can go the lowest.

Plenty of players found success, but many did not. They could not make enough birdies drop to stay in the hunt.

The lead is 14-under through 36 holes as C.T. Pan and Aaron Rai fired off 8-under 63s on Friday to follow up their 65s from Thursday.

Leaderboard heading into the weekend @JDClassic

T1. C.T. Pan (-14)
T1. Aaron Rai
3. Harry Hall (-13)
T4. Eric Cole (-12)
T4. Davis Thompson
T4. Denny McCarthy
T4. Luke Clanton (a)
T4. Sungjae Im
T4. Hayden Springer

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 6, 2024

Among the most popular names to play this weekend are two-time John Deere Classic winner Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Joel Dahmen, Keith Mitchell and Sungjae Im.

There are 24 players within four shots of Pan and Rai, which means the marathon will continue through the next 36 holes. Who will be able to prevent mistakes and make the most birdies?

Defending champion Sepp Straka made the cut on the number at 5-under. It does not seem like he will win back-to-back titles.

The cut line was 5-under, so anyone with 4-under or higher went home early. It is odd to see a cut that low, but that is how TPC Deere Run is playing this week.

Let’s take a look at the most popular names headed home.

The most popular name to MC at John Deere Classic

— Daniel Berger (-4; 68-70)
— Harry Higgs (-3; 72-67)
— Matt Kuchar: (-3; 69-70)
— Nick Dunlap: (-3; 69-70)
— Kevin Kisner: (-2; 68-72)
— Patton Kizzire: (-1; 71-70)
— Maverick McNealy: (E; 67-75)
— Nick Hardy: (E; 70-72)
— Neal Shipley: (+2; 70-74)

Higgs has been on quite the run on the Korn Ferry Tour and is on track to secure his PGA Tour card again. Most of the time, a 3-under total after 36 holes would see a guy play the weekend, but not this one.

The John Deere Classic has seen 1,352 birdies in two days of play. A 4-under and higher will not get a golfer paid. Many of these guys played well Thursday, but Friday’s wind caused problems for them and ultimately sent them home.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: Nelly Korda among big names to miss cut kpmg,women,s,pga,championship,nelly,korda,among,big,names,to,miss,cut,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news

On: June 22, 2024 By: admin

The LPGA’s third major championship, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, is halfway over. Sahalee Country Club showed its teeth through the first two days.

After Friday’s round, half the field went home, and among those was World No. 1 Nelly Korda.

Korda will not play on the weekend for the second major championship and the third straight week. She started the season with five consecutive wins and earned her sixth at the Mizuho’s Americas Open.

Since that victory, though, things have not gone her way. To miss the cut, Korda shot an 80-70 at the U.S. Women’s Open. This week, she tallied 69-81, her highest professional career score.

It was not a good day for the top-ranked player in the world, especially after a strong start to the week on Day 1. Korda started her day by making five bogeys in six of her first holes. She added two more bogeys at the 9th, 11th and 14th before a double bogey at the par-4 15th completely derailed her.

Korda did add one birdie to the card on the par-5 18th, but it was too late.

She is not the only one headed home early. Other notable names who missed the cut at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship include Anna Nordqvist, Alexa Pano, Emily Kristine Pedersen, Robyn Choi, Nasa Hataoka, Andrea Lee, Danielle Kang, Sophia Popov, Carlota Ciganda, Gemma Dryburgh, Stacy Lewis, and Brittany Lincicome.

Sahalee gave these ladies quite the test, and they were sent home after 36 holes.

Tiger Woods misses U.S. Open cut, updates 2024 golf plans tiger,woods,misses,u,s,open,cut,updates,golf,plans,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,tiger-woods,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

On: June 15, 2024 By: admin

Despite the stars aligning regarding the hot weather, favorable tee times, and his history at Pinehurst No. 2, Tiger Woods has missed the cut at the 2024 U.S. Open.

He shot a 3-over 73 on Friday, one day after signing for a 4-over 74. The 15-time major winner made his only birdie of the day at the par-4 4th, but then made four bogies over his next 14 holes to miss the cut by two.

“Well, it was probably the highest score I could have possibly shot today,” Woods assessed after.

“I hit a lot of good shots that just didn’t quite go my way, or I hit good putts, and then I put myself in a couple of bad spots with some bad lag putts. But again, as I said, it was probably the highest score I could have shot today.”

Woods admitted to feeling agitated, not because of his ailments but due to his results.

“It is frustrating because I’m not here to have a chance to win on the weekend,” Woods said.

“Granted, my ball-striking and felt like my putting was good enough to be in contention, and I’m not.”

Despite what Woods said, he ranked 131st in strokes gained approach and 106th in strokes gained putting. He hit the ball well off the tee but did not strike enough solid iron shots to make the weekend. He also missed plenty of opportunities, with none hurting more than his birdie attempt on the par-3 15th, which lipped out at the end.

“15 hurt. That was a sweet little 7-iron in there and a good putt, high-side lip. If I make that putt, it flips the momentum, and I’m looking pretty good,” Woods said.

“Instead, I’m on the wrong side of the cut line and having to do something good on the last three holes, which I end up hitting a sweet shot out of the trouble on 16, and I thought I holed my bunker shot at 17.”

Alas, it was not meant to be for Woods, who also laid out his plans for the rest of the 2024 season.

“I’ve only got one more tournament this season,” Woods added.

“Even if I win the British Open, I don’t think I’ll be in the Playoffs. Just one more event and then I’ll come back whenever I come back.”

Woods made his way to the U.S. Open this week via a special invitation. The United States Golf Association (USGA) created a special exemption for Woods, who has won nine USGA championships in his career: three U.S. Junior Amateurs, three U.S. Amateurs, and three U.S. Opens. He won his Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateurs over six straight years in the 1990s, perhaps his most underrated accomplishment.

Whether or not he will tee it up in a USGA championship in the future remains to be seen.

“As far as my last Open Championship or U.S. Open Championship, I don’t know what that is,” Woods added.

“It may or may not be.”

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas stumble, miss U.S. Open cut tiger,woods,justin,thomas,stumble,miss,u,s,open,cut,sbnation,com,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news,liv-golf

On: June 15, 2024 By: admin

Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas are just two of the big names to miss the cut at the 124th U.S. Open.

Woods, a 3-time U.S. Open champion, carded a 3-over 73 on Friday to miss the weekend by two shots. Thomas, meanwhile, looked lost all week at Pinehurst No. 2, finishing at 11-over through 36 holes. The two-time PGA champion has missed the cut in five of his last seven majors, an alarming trend for the Louisville, Kentucky native.

But plenty of others will head home early, too.

Viktor Hovland opened the 2024 U.S. Open with an eye-opening 8-over 78. He fought hard to make the weekend on Friday, battling back after making a double-bogey at the par-4 8th with four birdies, but he fell short in the end. Two bogies over his final three holes cost the Norwegian dearly, as he missed the cut by a stroke at 6-over par.

Also finishing at 6-over was Robert MacIntyre, who recently won the RBC Canadian with his father on the bag. Unfortunately for the Scotsman, he will have no reason to celebrate this time around.

Max Homa, Eric Cole, and PGA Tour rookie Nick Dunlap also finished at 6-over, with Homa being the biggest surprise of this trio. Yet, Homa has missed the cut at the U.S. Open in four of his five starts, with the outlier being a tie for 47th at the Country Club at Brookline in 2022.

Canadians Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor will also head home early, finishing at 7-over and 8-over, respectively. Australian Jason Day also totaled an 8-over score, a surprise given that this course suits his game nicely.

Others who finished at 8-over include Will Zalatoris, Webb Simpson, Will Zalatoris, Rickie Fowler, and one of SB Nation’s Dark Horses, Alex Noren of Sweden.

Dustin Johnson ended his second round at 9-over, as he has looked completely lost in major championships this season. So, too, has Phil Mickelson, who finished at 15-over after shooting a 79 on Thursday and a 76 on Friday.

Plenty of big names faltered at Pinehurst No. 2, but the big name favorite—Scottie Scheffler—made the cut on the number.

In all, 74 players earned third-round tee times, and play will commence first thing on Saturday, which promises to be another thrilling day in the North Carolina sandhills.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

U.S. Open: Francesco Molinari makes inconceivable ace, makes cut u,s,open,francesco,molinari,makes,inconceivable,ace,makes,cut,sbnation,com,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

On: June 14, 2024 By: admin

Francesco Molinari stood on the par-4 9th hole—his 18th of the day—at 7-over par. With the cut-line sitting at 5-over, he needed a hole-in-one to make the cut on the number.

The request was impossible, and yet Molinari delivered the improbable. He made an ace with a 7-iron, thus earning a third-round tee time at the U.S. Open for the first time since 2021.

“I think from where we were standing, it looked like it just carried the bunker, plus the greens are getting firm, so it was the ideal shot,” Molinari explained after.

“Then it started tracking, was going to break left to right at the hole, and we were joking with Sergio Garcia about how it looked and on a great line the whole way, but what are the chances really. I don’t even know what to say. Just incredible.”

Molinari struggled to process what had transpired after his 2-over 72.

“I just bogeyed 8. I was hoping I could par the 8th and then have to make two at 9,” Molinari said.

“With that flag, if you hit a good shot, you can get it within birdie range, but when I dropped a shot at 8, and then yes, standing on the 9th tee, it was just put a good swing on it and see what happens. But the chances are incredibly small, so I don’t know what to say.”

Molinari has had his fair share of incredible hole-in-ones.

He aced the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale one year. He also made a hole-in-one at Bay Hill, when he won there in 2019, per golf statistician Justin Ray.

But on Friday, he made the greatest ace of his life—when he needed it most.

“It was the last chance to have a chance to play the weekend,” Molinari added.

“That’s golf in a nutshell.”

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.