13 surprising players who missed 2025 U.S. Open cut

Last year at the U.S. Open, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau dueled on the weekend at Pinehurst No. 2, with DeChambeau coming out on top.

It has been a different story at this year’s U.S. Open for two of golf’s protagonists. Instead of battling each other at famed Oakmont, McIlroy and DeChambeau spent Friday fighting the Henry Fownes-designed brute in an attempt to play the weekend.

McIlroy carded an opening-round four-over 74 and then started his second round with two double bogeys in his first three holes to put him behind the eight ball. But the reigning Masters champion showed some fight down the stretch, which included tomahawking a club and obliterating a tee marker. (Oakmont has that effect.) McIlroy birdied 15 and 18 to slide inside the number and play the weekend.

Friday was different for DeChambeau, who got knocked out by Oakmont courtesy of a second-round 77 that saw him come home in 40 to miss the seven-over cut by three.

DeChambeau wasn’t the only big name to get bludgeoned by Oakmont and see his tournament end early.

Oakmont has won the first two rounds. We have 36 holes to go.

13 players who missed the 2025 U.S. Open’s seven-over cut

Bryson DeChambeau (73-77, 10 over)

The defending U.S. Open champion has been a fixture on major championship leaderboards over the last two years, but the Crushers frontman didn’t have his A-game at Oakmont this week.

DeChambeau ground out a three-over 73 in Round 1 and made the turn Friday at five over for the championship. That’s when the wheels came off. After starting on the back nine, DeChambeau arrived at the treacherous front nine and let it all slip away. He bogeyed No. 1, but he got the shot back with a birdie at the second. Then, he bogeyed the third, doubled the fifth, bogeyed the sixth and seventh to slide to 10 over par and end his title defense.

Ludvig Åberg (72-76, 8 over)

Åberg jumped out of the gates fast on Thursday and hung tough to post a 72, putting him squarely in the mix after the first round. But a second round with six bogeys and no birdies meant the young Swede’s week ended early. Åberg has now missed two straight cuts at majors and has only made one major cut in his career outside of the Masters (2024 U.S. Open).

Justin Thomas (76-76, 12 over)

Poor major showings are becoming a common occurrence for Thomas. In his last 13 majors, Thomas is a combined 72 over par and has missed seven cuts. He has just one top 10 in that span, which came at the 2024 PGA Championship.

Thomas’ Oakmont experience was punctuated by a four-putt double bogey from 22 feet on the par-5 12th on Friday.

Tommy Fleetwood (74-75, 9 over)

The Englishman spent 97 percent of the first two rounds inside the cut line. He arrived at the par-4 ninth hole on Friday, his final of the day, one shot inside the projected cutline. That’s when disaster struck. Fleetwood drove it into the fairway bunker and had to hack out. His third landed on the green some 40 feet from the pin. He then three-putted for a double bogey to end his tournament.

Dustin Johnson (75-75, 10 over)

It was a different walk around Oakmont for the 2016 U.S. Open champion this time around.

Johnson has now missed six of his last eight major cuts. He has just one major top 10 in his last 11 majors. The search for the Dustin Johnson of old continues for the 40-year-old.

Joaquin Niemann (75-75, 10 over)

Niemann carded his first major top 10 at the 2025 PGA Championship, but he was no match for Oakmont.

The 26-year-old Chilean, who has won four times on LIV this season, hit just 12 of 28 fairways over two rounds and is still looking to prove he can be a legitimate threat in major championships.

Phil Mickelson (74-74, 8 over)

In what could potentially be his final U.S. Open, Mickelson scratched and clawed at Oakmont through two rounds. The 54-year-old was well inside the cutline midway through the second round, but double bogeys at No. 15 and No. 17 put him on the outside looking in, and his birdie putt at No. 18 grazed the edge but didn’t fall.

Mickelson, whose U.S. Open exemption runs out after this year, has now missed seven of his last nine cuts in majors.

Sepp Straka (78-73, 11 over)

The No. 8 player in the world got punched in the face during the first round and was unable to grind out an under-par round on Friday to make the cut.

Straka has missed the cut in each of the first three majors of the season and hasn’t had a top 10 in a major since the 2023 Open Championship.

Shane Lowry (79-78, 17 over)

Lowry was the 54-hole leader at the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, but he had a much harder time around the iconic course this week.

Lowry lost 4.41 strokes putting in the first round en route to a 79 that included a hole-out eagle. He opened the second round with three bogeys and a double to end his championship. Lowry has gone T42-MC-MC at the first three majors this year.

Justin Rose (77-77, 14 over)

Rose’s slide since his Masters runner-up continued at Oakmont. He lost 4.45 strokes on the greens in Round 1 en route to a seven-over 77. In the second round, his struggles were off the tee as he opened with a front-nine 40 to spell the end of his tournament.

The Englishman has missed two straight cuts after narrowly losing out on the green jacket to Rory McIlroy.

Cameron Smith, (75-73, 8 over)

The 2022 Open champion continues to be a non-factor at major championships this season. Smith has now missed his last four major cuts and hasn’t carded a top-10 finish since the 2024 Masters.

Wyndham Clark (74-74, 8 over)

The struggles continue for the 2023 U.S. Open champion. Clark lost shots off the tee and on approach over two rounds at Oakmont. He arrived at his final hole Friday on the cutline, but a sloppy bogey sent him home early.

Clark has now missed four of his last seven major cuts and hasn’t finished in the top 30 of a major since his 2023 win at Los Angeles Country Club.

Patrick Cantlay (76-72, 8 over)

Like Clark, Cantlay needed a par at his final hole to play the weekend. But he hit his tee shot on the par-4 18th into the right fairway bunker. He chopped out and flew his third into the greenside rough. His par chip came up short, and Cantlay missed his second major championship cut in a row.

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