Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas miss cut at 2023 Masters. Tiger Woods makes it to Round 3
A few of golf’s biggest names missed the cut this weekend at the 2023 Masters.
Rory McIlroy (+5), Sergio Garcia (+7) and Bubba Watson (+9) are all poised to not play into Round 3 at Augusta National Golf Club, with the projected cut line at 3-over par.
Round 2 was wrapping up in rainy conditions Saturday morning after play was suspended Friday afternoon due to three trees falling near the 17th tee box.
Justin Thomas, at 4-over par, was flirting with that projected cut line before shooting a 6-over 42 on the back-nine to spiral out of contention and, ultimately, out of the tournament. He missed a par putt on 18 that would’ve sent him into the third round.
Tiger Woods (+3) finished his second round with a 1-over 73 after a 2-over 74 in Round 1. Woods was in position to make the cut semi-comfortably before closing with bogeys on 17 and 18 Saturday morning.
Having made the cut, he ties Gary Player and Fred Couples for the all-time record of 23 consecutive made cuts at Augusta National. Woods has never missed the cut at the Masters as a professional and did so just once as an amateur in 1996 — his second ever appearance in the tournament
Couples (+1), became the oldest player to ever make the cut at the Masters this week at 63 years old, carding a 2-over 74 in the second round — including bogies on three of his final six holes. He breaks a record previously held by Bernhard Langer that was set during the 2020 Masters tournament played in November of that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Round 3 is set to begin at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday with groups playing in threesomes and players going off the first and 10th tees in order to accelerate play.
Top storylines to track in Masters Round 3
Heavyweight bout between Koepka, Rahm coming into focus
We’re in for some haymakers on Saturday at Augusta National.
Jon Rahm’s 1-under 35 on the back nine to get to 10-under on the tournament amid rainy conditions Saturday morning may have been one of the most impressive showings of the week. He now sits just two shots back of solo leader Brooks Koepka (-12).
Rahm and Koepka figure to have advantages assuming conditions stay wet on Saturday and into Sunday given their ability to carry longer distances off the tee.
Sam Bennett making amateur history
If you haven’t heard of Sam Bennett by now, start paying attention.
The fifth-year senior at Texas A&M is 8-under and in solo third behind Rahm and Koepka after shooting back-to-back 68s in his first two competitive rounds at Augusta National.
Pretty good!
Bennett won’t wow you with his length off the tee (or his size at a skinny 5-foot-10), but he’s been deadly accurate in his play this week. He hit 13 of 18 greens in his first two rounds and 26 of 28 fairways.
His 8-under through two rounds is the second-best ever 36-hole score by an amateur in Masters history. He could add some more hardware to his increasingly legendary performance with more fine play the next 48 hours.
Big names to watch behind the leaders
Rahm and Koepka (along with Bennett) are all at least two shots clear of the rest of the field, but there are plenty of big names hovering in the top 10 at Augusta National.
Eight players with major wins sit at 3-under or better after two rounds. Chief among those are Collin Morikawa (-6), Jason Day (-5) and Jordan Spieth (-5).
Day had perhaps the most interesting outing of Round 2, getting himself to 9-under before 4-over on his final four holes — including a double bogey at the par-5 15th. He’s been lights out otherwise this week and shouldn’t be counted out.
Morikawa and Spieth have also had their moments this week. Morikawa — the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open Championship winner — was surgical in his back-to-back 69s, recording eight birdies and just two bogies over his 36 holes.
Spieth was a bit more erratic in his opening rounds, falling in line with his general play over the last handful of years. The 2015 Masters champ started birdie-birdie in his second round before a bogey at the par-3 6th and a birdie at the par-5 8th. The former Texas standout also closed his first round with a bogey at 11 and a double bogey at 13 before recording birdies at 15 and 16 to get back to 3-under on Thursday.
Masters Leaders
- Brooks Koepka (-12)
- Jon Rahm (-10)
- Sam Bennett (-8)*
- Collin Morikawa (-6)
- Viktor Hovland (-6)
- Jason Day (-5)
- Sam Burns (-5)
- Jordan Spieth (-5)
- Cameron Young (-5)
* = amateur
Masters cut history
2022: 147 (+4)
2021: 147 (+3)
2020: 144 (E)
2019: 147 (+3)
2018: 149 (+8)
2017: 150 (+6)
2016: 150 (+6)
2015: 146 (+2)
2014: 148 (+4)
2013: 148 (+4)
Masters third round tee times
First tee
11:30 a.m. — Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Smith
11:42 a.m. — Tom Kim, Keegan Bradley, Xander Schauffele
11:54 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Harris English, Matt Fitzpatrick
12:06 p.m. — Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Ryan Fox, Patrick Reed
12:18 p.m. — Justin Rose, Russell Henley, Shane Lowery
12:30 p.m. — Gary Woodland, Phil Mickelson, Joaquin Neimann
12:42 p.m. — Sam Burns, Jordan Spieth, Cameron Young
12:54 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Jason Day
1:06 p.m. — Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Sam Bennett*
10th tee
11:30 a.m. — Sepp Straka, Harold Varner III, Dustin Johnson
11:42 a.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau
11:54 a.m. — Sahith Theegala, Abraham Ancer, Mito Pereira
12:06 p.m. — Tyrell Hatton, Max Homa, Chris Kirk
12:18 p.m. — Taylor Moore, Si Woo Kim, Zach Johnson
12:30 p.m. — Fred Couples, Mackenzie Hughes, Seamus Power
12:42 p.m. — J.T. Poston, Talor Gooch, Keith Mitchell
12:54 p.m. Charl Schwartzel, Billy Horschel, Scott Stallings
1:06 p.m. — Tomas Pieters, Tiger Woods, Sungjae Im
*Denotes amateur
This story was originally published April 8, 2023 at 9:52 AM.
