Horschel suffers the deepest cut

TROON, SCOTLAND— With his cap on backward, Billy Horschel placed his ball on the tee and smashed his drive down No. 18 without even taking a practice swing.

After the biggest second-round collapse in British Open history, the American might already have been thinking of home.

The cut mark dropped to 4-over par late Friday after a flurry of high scores in the wind and rain among the afternoon starters at Royal Troon.

Bubba Watson and Danny Willett, both Masters champions, made clutch putts at the last hole to make the weekend. Others, including Horschel, were too far gone by the time they reached the 18th.

Horschel, who began the second round at four under, made four double bogeys or worse and shot the high score of the day, a 14-over 85. Only one player in British Open history had a larger differential than Horschel’s 18 shots between the first and second rounds. Robin Davenport went from a 94 to a 72 in 1966 at Muirfield.

No player has had a bigger meltdown over the first two rounds, and Horschel’s 18-stroke variation is the biggest at the Open since Colin Montgomerie went 64-84 in his second and third rounds at Muirfield in 2002. Horschel wound up at 10 over par. Former champion Louis Oosthuizen, who lost out to Zach Johnson in a three-man playoff at St. Andrews last year, made nine on the par-4 11th and shot 12-over 83. The South African had a 12-over total and, as the world No. 14, was the highest-ranked player to depart.

Shane Lowry, the 54-hole leader at last month’s U.S. Open, battled to shoot an even-par 71 but was undone by his opening-round 78.

“I played like Ben Hogan today and Hulk Hogan yesterday,” Lowry said.

Two-time Open champion Ernie Els would have made the cut with a par on No. 18. He drove into a fairway bunker and made bogey.

Former Open champions Justin Leonard, Todd Hamilton, and Mark Calcavecchia all missed the cut.

As did another, Ben Curtis, who took six shots in the sand to make 10 on the third hole. He shot 83.