Max Homa, Jordan Spieth among big names to miss cut at The Genesis Invitational

Max Homa has endured difficult stretches before and come out better for them. He’s in the midst of another one right now but still has optimism that he is headed in the right direction.

Homa, who debuted new clubs, new clothes and a new coach this year, missed the cut at The Genesis Invitational on Friday after shooting 76-75. It was his second consecutive missed cut and fourth straight finish outside of the top 50.

Homa, who has dropped to 60th in the world ranking, said earlier this week that he’s been “very frustrated” since a T3 finish at last year’s Masters. An eighth-place finish a month later at the Truist Championship remains his last top-10 on TOUR. After winning five titles over the previous three seasons, last year was his first winless campaign on TOUR since 2020.

Homa started this year with a T26 at The Sentry before withdrawing at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he was 9-over when a weather delay hit the second round. Homa then finished T53 out of 80 players at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He said earlier this week that he saw positive signs in last week’s missed cut at the WM Phoenix Open, where he shot 76-69.

“That's what's so odd about last week is that is the best I swung the golf club like potentially — this is going to sound crazy — but potentially ever," Homa said earlier this week. "Like it's the best I've driven — like as easy as I could imagine or I could remember ever hitting a driver. Curved less, I was more out of the middle (of the face). I know this all sounds hilarious to people because it's been so bad and I missed the cut by five, but like I was like really excited about last week.”

This week’s metrics pointed to continued struggles with his ball-striking, though. Homa, a past champion of The Genesis Invitational (2021) and at Torrey Pines’ South Course (2023 Farmers Insurance Open), hit just 11 fairways and 21 greens in the two rounds at Torrey Pines. He lost approximately three strokes in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and in Approach-the-Green.

The Genesis Invitational is one of three player-hosted Signature Events that features a 36-hole cut. Unlike the other Signature Events, the Tiger Woods-hosted The Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and Jack Nicklaus’ the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday all pare down the field at the halfway point.

All three player-hosted Signature Events cut to the low 50 players (and ties), as well as any player within 10 shots of the 36-hole lead. This week, exactly 75% of the field (54 of 72) made the cut with scores of 4-over 148 and lower. The 10-shot rule did not apply, as only 41 players were within 10 shots of leader Davis Thompson, who is 8-under.

Homa wasn’t the only big name who found himself on the wrong side of the cut line.

Former FedExCup champions Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Billy Horschel and Viktor Hovland all missed the cut, as did Robert MacIntyre, Gary Woodland and FedExCup leader Sepp Straka.

Per usual, there were plenty of close calls around the cut line. Matthieu Pavon, who won last year’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, shot 69 on Friday to make the cut on the number. His second round was 10 shots lower than his first. Birdies on his 15th and 16th holes of the day moved him inside the cut line. Pavon started the tournament with a front-nine 43 and was 8-over after 12 holes but played his next 24 holes in 4-under. Tom Hoge made a 7-foot birdie putt on his final hole of the day to make the cut on the number.

Austin Eckroat, a two-time winner last season, three-putted his final hole to miss the cut by one. Sungjae Im missed birdie putts of 25 feet or less on his final three holes, including a 3-footer on his 17th hole of the day. Im, who finished T4 at Torrey Pines earlier this year, missed the cut by one.

Min Woo Lee birdied the par-5 ninth to make the cut on the number, getting up-and-down from 25 yards away. Last week’s winner, Thomas Detry, birdied his second-to-last hole Friday to move inside the cut line, hitting his 155-yard tee shot on the par-3 eighth to 9 feet. He added another birdie on his final hole, two-putting the par-5 ninth after reaching the green from 293 yards.

The Genesis Invitational was Spieth’s third start since returning from wrist surgery. He was coming off a promising T4 at last week’s WM Phoenix Open, his best finish in more than a year, but his struggles at Torrey Pines continued. Spieth made his pro debut in the 2013 Farmers Insurance Open, but has missed the cut in four of seven Farmers starts. He has finished no better than T19 in nine pro starts at Torrey Pines.