Phil Mickelson, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Smith among the prominent players to miss the cut at 2022 U.S. Open

Any missed cut is a reason to pout, to question one’s game, to lose sleep and overreact to a bad week, but it hurts a little more – dare we say a lot more – to clean out the locker in the clubhouse during the week of a major championship.

At the 122^nd U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, several prominent golfers were sent packing. Only the top 60 and ties survived to play the weekend. The U.S. Open always has been known to be the fullest examination of a golfer’s game. It will expose any weakness, any uncertainty, any fragile nerves. In short, there’s nowhere for a player to hide.

While several unheralded players have stepped forward and surged into contention at TCC, a normally talented lot have fallen victim to a quirky that layout that is proving to have stood the test of time.

Here’s more on some of the players who failed to make the cut, which came in at 3 over.

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Cameron Young (4 over)

Cameron Young experienced the full range of emotions in the 122^nd U.S. Open. The PGA Tour rookie, who missed making a playoff at the PGA Championship last month by a stroke, was straddling the cutline after a 72 Thursday and two bogeys and a birdie on his first nine on Friday. That’s when he experienced a wild ride on the front nine at TCC.

A bogey at No. 1 was a mere flesh wound, but his chances of playing the weekend took a huge hit when he made a quadruple-bogey 8 at the par-4 third. If that didn’t seal his fate, he made bogey at the next hole to fall to 9 over. But Young didn’t go down without a fight. He made birdie at the fifth hole to stop the bleeding.

Then came the piece de resistance, an ace at the par-3 sixth hole.

Suddenly, he was 6 over. Two more birdies followed to improve to 4 over, a four-hole stretch played in 5 under, but he made par at the last. All that effort for nothing, but nonetheless it was good to see no quit in Young.

Sergio Garcia (4 over)

Sergio Garcia plays his shot from the 15th tee during the first round of the 2022 U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

Sergio Garcia missed the cut at his second straight major. He also had the weekend off at the PGA Championship last month. Garcia, No. 55 in the world, put himself behind the proverbial 8-ball on Thursday by shooting 74. On Friday, he made an eagle and two birdies, including at 17, but scattered four squares on the card to shoot even-par 70. Rounds of 74-70—144 proved to be one too many.

Garcia, who recently renounced his PGA Tour membership and joined LIV Golf, has 13 missed cuts in his 20 starts in majors since winning the 2017 Masters.

Shane Lowry (4 over)

Shane Lowry plays his shot from the eighth tee during the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)

Shane Lowry, world No. 24, snapped a streak of 13 straight cuts made that dated to last year’s Houston Open.

Lowry, the 2019 British Open champ, shot a pair of 72’s at TCC to miss the cut by one stroke. He made a combined six bogeys on the back nine. A balky putter cost Lowry a chance to play the weekend and potentially be a factor in the tournament. He ranked T-136 in Strokes Gained: Putting on Friday, losing close to two strokes to the field on the greens.

Billy Horschel (4 over)

Billy Horschel walks to the 11th green during the second round of the 122nd U.S. Open Championship at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Just two weeks after Billy Horschel won the Memorial, the former Florida Gator was among the truck slammers on Friday. Horschel, who entered the week a career-best No. 11 in the world, shot 73-71–144.

It marked the second straight year that Horschel was on the wrong side of the 36-hole cut at his national championship.

Webb Simpson (4 over)

Webb Simpson plays his shot from the 18th tee during the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Webb Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, missed the cut at his national championship for the second straight year. Since the 2017 U.S. Open, he’s made the cut at every other of the 20 other majors he’s competed in.

Simpson, No. 55 in the world, was 1 under for the championship playing the par-5 14^th when disaster struck. Simpson was 62 yards from the green in 2 and walked off making a triple-bogey 8. That doomed Simpson to a Friday 74 and a rare weekend off at a major.

Kevin Na (5 over)

Kevin Na prepares to play his shot from the 15th tee during the first round of the 2022 U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

Kevin Na made eight birdies in two rounds, tied for the third most in the field, but still managed to miss the cut with rounds of 75-70—145. In the first round, Na struggled to hit greens in regulation (7 of 18). He was hanging around at even par, trading three early bogeys with three birdies, but played the last four holes in 5 over. It was more of the same on Friday with too many unforced errors as five birdies were canceled out by five bogeys.

Na, who recently renounced his PGA Tour membership and joined LIV Golf, had finished T-14 at the Masters and T-23 at the PGA Championship. He had made six straight cuts in a row since March when he was sent home early at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Tony Finau (5 over)

Tony Finau plays his shot from a bunker on the 17th hole during the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Tony Finau’s second round started with a drive tugged way left at No. 10 that led to a double bogey. He battled back with a pair of birdies at Nos. 14 and 17 and was inside the cut line until he finished bogey-bogey.

One week after Tony Finau chased Rory McIlroy to the finish in Canada and was runner-up, he never got untracked at the U.S. Open. The world No. 15 had made eight straight cuts since the Players Championship in March, but Finau shot 73-72—145 to end his streak.

He made just four birdies in all. He hit just five fairways on Friday and lost more than two strokes to the field off the tee.

Daniel Berger (5 over)

Daniel Berger chips onto the fifth green during the first round of the 2022 U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

With six bogeys in his first 13 holes on Friday, Daniel Berger went from U.S. Open contender to pretender. Entering the week at world No. 25, Berger opened with an even-par 70, making four birdies, two bogeys and a double.

Berger contended two weeks ago at the Memorial and had two previous top-10 finishes at the U.S. Open, including T-7 last year, but a Friday 75 (5 over) did him in.

Cameron Smith (6 over)

Cameron Smith plays his shot from the eighth tee during the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

Cameron Smith, winner of the Players Championship in March, has emerged as one of the best players in golf. He was one of six players to finish in the top 15 in each of the first two men’s majors this year.

But the U.S. Open, with its narrow fairways that demand precision off the tee, may be his personal kryptonite. Since finishing T-4 in his championship debut in 2015, Smith has finished T-59, T-72 and T-38 along with missing the cut three times and two years in a row.

Smith’s Achilles heel is driving accuracy and it doomed him again this week. Smith tried shortening the length of his driver this week, but he still lost nearly a stroke to the field off the tee and hit just half his fairways in the second round (7 of 14).

Surprisingly, Smith, No. 6 in the world, also struggled with the putter, ranking T-113 in that category for two rounds, and made just one birdie on Friday.

Louis Oosthuizen (6 over)

Louis Oosthuizen reacts after a putt on the 14th green during the first round of the 2022 U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Even shooting 1-under 69 on Friday wasn’t enough to recover from a brutal opening-round 77 at the U.S. Open for Louis Oosthuizen.

The South African has had a very different year at the majors compared to 2021. He withdrew at the Masters, finished T-60 at the PGA and missed the cut at this week’s U.S. Open. That’s a far cry from going T-2 at the PGA, 2^nd at the U.S. Open and T-3 at the British a year ago.

Oosthuizen, who has slipped to No. 22 in the OWGR, has gone 14 straight PGA Tour events without a top-10 finish, dating to the 3M Open. Next up: the British Open at St. Andrews, where he won the title in 2010 and lost a playoff in 2015.

Oosthuizen, who joined LIV Golf and played in its debut event last week, hit only 20 of 36 greens in regulation.

Viktor Hovland (7 over)

Viktor Hovland plays his shot from the 17th fairway during the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

When Viktor Hovland birdied two of his first four holes on Friday, he was 2 under and in striking distance of the lead at the 122^nd U.S. Open. Then the wheels came off.

The 24-year-old Norwegian seeking his first major made bogeys at 17 and 18, his eighth and ninth holes of the day and the first four holes of the front nine to shoot himself out of the championship. He came home in 42, bogeying nine of his last 11 holes, and signed for 77.

Hovland hit only five fairway and eight greens in regulation. The world No. 8 snapped a streak of nine straight made cuts dating to the WM Phoenix Open in February. So far, it’s been a pretty lackluster major season for Hovland: T-27 at the Masters, T-41 at the PGA Championship and now a MC at the U.S. Open.

Tommy Fleetwood (7 over)

Tommy Fleetwood plays a shot from a bunker on the seventh hole during the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

Tommy Fleetwood, who finished second at the 2018 U.S. Open, made just two birdies in 36 holes and will have a rare weekend off. Fleetwood shot rounds of 72-75—147 at The Country Club.

Fleetwood made 18 straight cuts before snapping that streak at the Honda Classic in late February. He had made 10 in a row before the U.S. Open, which makes 28 of 29 before spitting the bit in Beantown. The 40^th-ranked player in the world made four bogeys in a five-hole stretch on Friday beginning at No. 14. His putter was his bugaboo. He lost more than 2 ½ strokes on the greens to the field and ranked T-149 out of 156 in putting in the second round.

Phil Mickelson (11 over)

Phil Mickelson looks on from the 17th green during the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Phil Mickelson was the center of attention heading into the U.S. Open, but it turned out to be a short stay in Boston.

Mickelson, who skipped the first two majors this year and joined LIV Golf for its debut last week, opened with a dreadful 78. His putter, which he blamed for his poor play last week near London, continued to plague him. He took 14 putts in his first six holes, including a 4-jack, and his dream of completing the career Grand Slam was all but over for this year.

Mickelson was a little better on Friday, shooting 3-over 73, but he made just three birdies in 36 holes and was sent packing early at 11-over 151. That tied him for 134th in the field of 156.

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