The first two rounds of The PLAYERS Championship have given golf fans plenty of impressive golf.
Justin Thomas rose from the dead after shooting a 78 on Thursday and tied the course record with an 11-birdie 10-under 62. The tournament also has two of the youngest players in the field, Akshay Bhatia and Min Woo Lee, lead by one at 11-under.
Rory McIlroy is in contention for his second PLAYERS title, and Scottie Scheffler still has a shot at a three-peat. With wind gusts of 25 to 35 miles per hour heading in, anything could happen.
Yet, TPC Sawgrass proved quite challenging for some of the top names in golf.
Although the conditions in Ponte Vedra, Florida, were ideal, that did not stop players from posting big numbers.
The cut-line for the week was 1-under, and it is wild to see some of these popular players heading home early.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
The PLAYERS 2025: Biggest Names to Miss the Cut
— Justin Rose (71-73; E)
— Hideki Matsuyama (74-70; E)
— Ludvig Åberg (71-75; +2)
— Nick Taylor (74-72; +2)
— Viktor Hovland (80-68; +4)
— Karl Vilips (72-78; +6)
— Brian Harman (73-77; +6)
— Matt Fitzpatrick (78-72; +6)
— Max Homa (79-71; +6)
— Tony Finau (76-76; +8)
— Maverick McNealy (72-81;+9)
— Gary Woodland (78-78; +12)
TPC Sawgrass is nowhere near the most demanding course on the PGA Tour, but it can challenge some of the most talented players.
Two players who came in as potential favorites, World No. 4 Ludvig Åberg and World No. 6 Hideki Matsuyama, struggled around the track. Åberg gave himself a chance on Thursday with a 71, but too many mistakes on Friday sent him home. Matsuyama came close but fell short by one stroke, missing a birdie on 18 by inches.
Justin Rose was another person who had a decent round but could not get enough birdie putts to sink when he needed them.
Karl Vilips won his first PGA Tour event last week in Puerto Rico, but shot a 6-over 78 on Friday. Max Homa also continues to play poorly as he tries to find his form. He did shoot eight strokes better on Friday, but it was far from enough to get him a weekend tee time.
Brian Harman, one of the guys who finished runner up to Scheffler in 2024, shot a 5-over 77 Friday, closing his round with three straight bogeys.
These guys learned that TPC Sawgrass can be a brutal place to tee it up, and now they will have to watch from home to see who wins the 2025 PLAYERS Championship.
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