Players Championship: Thomas, Spieth among stars who missed the cut at TPC Sawgrass

In the PGA Tour’s return in 2021 to TPC Sawgrass after the previous year’s Players Championship was shut down because of COVID-19, Justin Thomas seized his most meaningful personal triumph outside of the majors on the strength of a Saturday 64. This year, he won’t be around on the weekend.

Thomas, who hadn’t missed a Players cut in eight previous appearances, was among some of the notable players who were eliminated after 36 holes. The two-time major winner faltered with a two-over-par 74 on Friday, finished at one over, and missed the cut by two shots.

Seventy-three players finished at one under or better and are heading for the final 36 holes, with reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark (65-65) leading the pack at 14 under.

Joining Thomas in packing was his friend and frequent Ryder Cup partner Jordan Spieth (74-72), whose weekend absence isn’t that surprising. Sawgrass hasn’t been kind to the Texan, who now has six missed cuts in 10 starts with a best finish of T-4 coming in his debut appearance 10 years ago.

Elsewhere, Beau Hossler saw his streak of six consecutive cuts made this season snapped when he finished at one over. Justin Rose was three over and Will Zalatoris four over.

New Zealand’s Ryan Fox has to be particularly disappointed. He made an ace on the island 17th green on Thursday in scoring 69 and then stumbled to a 76 on Friday to miss the cut.

The second round was particularly rough for Camilo Villegas and Cam Davis, both of whom shot 10-over 82. Villegas suffered two triple bogeys (at Nos. 4 and 11), while Davis shot seven over in a five-hole stretch from 4 through 8.