How the 36-hole cut is determined at the British Open

Cut day at the Open Championship brings with it plenty of stress and anxiety as players well down the leader board are still keeping a close eye on the scores to figure out where they stand, and whether the numbers they’re posting will be low enough to play on the weekend. Exactly where that will fall at Royal Liverpool is made more uncertain by a weather forecast that calls for stronger winds and some rain on Friday that could change the equation.

The rules for who makes the cut at the Open are similar to those at the PGA Championship: low 70 players and ties advance to play all four rounds. This differs from the U.S. Open, which makes the cut at low 60 and ties, and the Masters, which keeps the low 50 and ties around on the weekend. And there is no “10-stroke rule” in effect to help determine the British Open cut.

All this is, of course, particularly relevant for handful of the game’s more familiar names. They include: Sam Burns (73), Tony Finau (73), Robert MacIntyre (74), Bryson DeChambeau (74), Dustin Johnson (74), Jon Rahm (74), Denny McCarthy (76), Phil Mickelson (77) and Justin Thomas (82). What are their chances of making Open Championship 36-hole cut and playing the weekend? Well if the cut was made after just 18 holes, you needed to shoot two-over-par 74 or better to be inside the top 70 and ties. With 47 players posting even-par or better scores in the first round, the projected cutline from datagolf.com as of 1:15 p.m. Eastern on Friday was a 96.9-percent probability of three-over 145 and a 3-percent probability of four-over 146. So the first six in this group would have to shoot even-par or better scores on Friday, with McCarthy and Mickelson needing a sub-par number and Thomas needing, well, a bit of a miracle.

As a point of reference, here’s what the Open Championship 36-hole cut line has been for the last 10 Opens:

2022: 144 (E), St. Andrews
2021: 141 (+1), Royal St. George's
2019: 143 (+1), Royal Portrush
2018: 145 (+3), Carnoustie
2017: 145 (+5), Royal Birkdale
2016: 146 (+4), Royal Troon
2015: 144 (E), St. Andrews
2014: 146 (+2), Royal Liverpool
2013: 150 (+8), Muirfield
2012: 143 (+3), Royal Lytham & St. Annes

And here is the cut for the last two Opens at Royal Liverpool:

2014: 146 (+2)
2006: 143 (-1)

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Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.

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