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Mickelson, Day, Fowler among those missing Torrey Pines cut

ryan ballengee

Several of golf's biggest names have the weekend off after missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open near San Diego.

World No. 2 and defending champion Jason day is perhaps chief among them, shooting 2-over 74 on Friday on Torrey Pines' tougher South Course to send him packing. Day had been suffering from flu-like symptoms that kept him out of the Wednesday pro-am, leaving his place in the field in doubt.

''You can't live and die by one week,'' Day said. ''It's not going to be the last cut I'm going to miss. Hopefully, it is the last cut I'm going to miss this year, but once again it's a process. I got to keep working hard and hopefully that delayed gratification is a lot more sweeter at the end of the year than it is right now.''

Rickie Fowler missed the cut, too, but he probably has a good excuse as well. Fowler missed the cut by a shot, finishing 36 holes on even-par 144. Fowler, who is a California native, had arrived to San Diego with momentum from his win last week in Abu Dhabi. However, the whirlwind trip and time transition likely had a significant impact on his performance.

Then there's Phil Mickelson. The 45-year-old San Diego native had a lot on his mind this week, ranging from dealing with the PR nightmare of Aussie teen pro Ryan Ruffels' tale of their big-money match to facing local press wondering how he felt to lose his passion project of renovating the Torrey Pines North Course to Tom Weiskopf.

After an opening 69 at Torrey South, Mickelson, in his final route around the North Course before the renovation begins, Mickelson was off-kilter all day. On the par-5 18th, his ninth hole of the day, he had to play a shot where his ball stopped under a border fence for the property.

''After that good round yesterday on the South Course, I thought, 'I'm going to go to the North Course and really light it up.' I think I tried to force the issue a little bit,'' Mickelson said. ''When I wasn't under par early, I kind of started to press a little bit. But that stuff happens.''

In the end, Mickelson's 76 was a career-worst on the North Course. He missed the cut days after an encouraging T-3 finish in his 2016 opener at the CareerBuilder Challenge.

While the three arguably biggest draws won't be around for the weekend, Dustin Johnson is in position to challenge for his first 2016 win. Johnson trails joint leaders Gary Woodland and K.J. Choi by a shot on 8 under par.

Martin Laird, Scott Brown and Billy Horschel are tied for fourth at 7 under.

Players who are perhaps stars in the making will look to make a charge, too. Paul Dunne, the Irish then-amateur who had the 54-hole lead at last summer's British Open, is at 4 under in his pro debut in the U.S. Ruffels, the 17-year-old Aussie who Mickelson admonished at the start of the week, will also play this weekend, making the cut on the number at 1 under par.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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