Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas miss Masters cut

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods looked destined to miss the cut after he bogeyed the last two holes of his rain-interrupted second round at the 87th Masters Tournament on Saturday morning.

Then fate intervened and he made the cut, after all, his fortunes changing soon after he signed for a second-round 73.

“I’ve always loved this golf course, and I love playing this event,” said Woods, who tied a record held by 63-year-old Fred Couples (who also made the cut) and Gary Player with his 23rd straight made Masters cut. “Obviously I’ve missed a couple with some injuries, but I've always wanted to play here. I’ve loved it.”

When he finished in heavy rain, he didn’t know if he’d done enough to get through.

“I hope I get a chance to play this weekend,” he said.

The 36-hole cut at the Masters is the low 50 and ties, which meant Woods needed either Justin Thomas or Sungjae Im to slide backward in their scant remaining holes of Round 2, leaving the pool of players at 2 over or better totaling less than 50.

When Thomas blew his drive into the trees on 17 and bogeyed the hole, it brought Woods back in, provided Thomas didn’t birdie the last. The 15-time PGA TOUR winner not only didn’t birdie 18, he bogeyed it to finish 4 over and miss the cut here for the first time in his eighth career Masters start.

Woods, 47, walking with a limp and making just his second start this season (T45 at The Genesis Invitational), was the biggest name but hardly the only player to be given a lifeline. The group of 3-over-par golfers who also got a reprieve included Billy Horschel, Scott Stallings, Charl Schwartzel and Thomas Pieters.

Im bogeyed 17 to also fall to 3 over. He made a tough par save on 18 to make it on the number.

Rory McIlroy, the second-ranked player in the world, missed the cut after signing for a second-round 77 before rain halted play Friday. He finished 5 over par, two off the cut line.

This marked the 29th time Thomas and McIlroy had played in a major together, and the first time both players missed the cut.

McIlroy bogeyed holes 2, 3, 6, 7 and 11 to go 5 over par barely halfway through his second round, all but sealing his fate.

It was a shocking development for last year’s Masters Tournament runner-up, who had made 12 cuts in 14 Masters starts coming into this week. McIlroy, who needs the green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam, also came in with high hopes after a third-place finish at the recent World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play.

There was a glimmer of hope as he birdied the par-5 13th and gave himself a six-foot eagle putt on 15. He missed but made the comebacker as his second birdie in three holes got him to 3 over. Alas, he bogeyed two of the last three to leave no doubt.

The website Data Golf said there was a 75% chance that the cut line would fall at 2 over par when play was suspended for the day Friday. The probability of it falling at either 1 over (11%) or 3 over (14%) was much smaller, but players struggled in heavy rain, and 3 over it was, much to the relief of Woods fans.

Sandy Lyle and Larry Mize will both wrapped up their Masters careers Saturday morning. Lyle shot 83 and finished 20 over par; Mize came in with an 80 to finish 15 over.

All of the amateurs other than Sam Bennett (68-68, 8 under, four back), who is currently in third place, missed the cut, meaning Bennett has clinched low-amateur honors.

Former major champions Francesco Molinari (4 over) and Danny Willett (6 over) also finished outside the cut line. Molinari tied for fifth here in 2019.

Willett, the 2016 Masters champ, nearly won the PGA TOUR’s season-opening Fortinet Championship in Napa. At Augusta, however, he struggled to keep up with playing partners Brooks Koepka (67, 12 under) and Gary Woodland (72, 4 under).