World’s top 3 players heading home early
Johnson, McIlroy, Day all miss cut, a first for any major.
ERIN, WIS. — Jason Day was walking away from Erin Hills with his wife and son when he managed to find one positive about this U.S. Open.
“Guess what?” he said to 4-year-old Dash. “We get to go home today because Daddy played poorly.”
That’s something Day, the No. 3 player in the world, rarely says at a major.
He was a long shot to make the cut Friday after opening with a 79, his worst score ever in a U.S. Open, and he removed any suspense when he hit a wedge over the green at No. 2 (his 11th hole) and then started hitting his tee shots in the hay.
Day shot a 75 for a twoday total of 10-over 154, ending at 17 the longest active streak of making the cut in the majors. The last time Day missed a cut in a major was the 2012 PGA Championship, just a month after his son was born.
He never would have guessed it.
“I felt the most calm I have in a major in a long time this week,” said Day, who arrived last Friday. “And just unfortunately, this didn’t pan out.”
It didn’t for Rory McIlroy, either. The No. 2 player in the world also arrived last Friday Some of the former major champions to miss the cut at Erin Hills:
Justin Rose 72-74 +2 Adam Scott 72-75 +3 Henrik Stenson 74-73 +3 Dustin Johnson 75-73 +4 Bubba Watson 75-73 +4 Rory McIlroy 78-72 +6 Jimmy Walker 77-73 +6 Jason Day 79-75 +10
having missed the last month to rest a nagging rib injury. He loved Erin Hills, a course with wide fairways between the knee-high fescue that he figured would allow him to attack. If only he had hit the fairways.
McIlroy was never in the short grass from the 11th hole to the end on Thursday when he opened with a career-worst 78, and he didn’t do nearly enough in the second round until it was far too late.
Then as daylight was fading, world No. 1 and defending U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson made it an unlikely trio, following up his opening 75 with a 1-over 73 to miss the cut at 4 over.
It was the second straight year McIlroy missed the cut at the U.S. Open.
McIlroy dismissed the notion of being rusty before the tournament, but conceded on his way out of Wisconsin that he hasn’t played nearly enough. He missed nearly two months at the start of the year when he was diagnosed with a slight rib fracture, and then the latest break after The Players Championship.
The U.S. Open was only his sixth start this year.
“I think at the end of the day, it’s competitive rounds and get the card in my hand,” McIlroy said. “And I’ve been very light on competitive rounds this year, and it’s just a matter of getting into a good round of golf now.”
They weren’t alone in an early exit.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson shot 75-73 to miss the cut. PGA champion Jimmy Walker missed the cut as he continues to recover from Lyme disease.
Day thought his game was perfectly suited for Erin Hills. He is long and straight off the tee and an excellent chipper from closely mown areas around the green. But he wasn’t doing much of anything right, especially with his driver.
“Being out of position off the tee does not help,” he said. “The execution was not there.”
Day also said he might have been rattled by starting out Thursday afternoon knowing that Rickie Fowler had already posted a 65. Over the final few holes, with Justin Rose struggling to try to make the cut, Day was simply trying to stay out of the way.
“With where I was hitting it,” he said with a smile, “I wasn’t in the way.”