10 Big Names To Miss The Players Championship Cut

We've reached the halfway point of The Players Championship, with Wyndham Clark at the top of the leaderboard heading into Moving Day at TPC Sawgrass, as some of the highest-profile players in the world aim for a first prize of $4.5m.

For some, though, the first two rounds of the 2024 edition were days to forget, with plenty more big names failing to finish above the cut line and make it to the weekend.

Here are 10 of the most well-known players heading home after the opening two rounds of the PGA Tour’s flagship event.

Justin Thomas

Thomas’ win at The Players Championship three years ago ranks as one of the biggest of his career. However, despite a generally encouraging run of form after a slump in 2023, there will be no repeat of that success at the 2024 edition.

It had looked promising enough for the two-time Major winner after a one-under opening round of 71, but a two-over 74 in the second round wasn’t quite enough for him to make it to the weekend.

Jordan Spieth

The three-time Major winner hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since finishing top of a thriller at the 2022 RBC Heritage, and the wait will go on for longer after a disappointing 74 in the opening round was followed by a real mixed bag in the second. 

Spieth's round included four birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey on the 14th. That left him four-over for the tournament and even though he birdied the 15th, by that point it looked as though it wasn't to be, and so it proved. Spieth finished with an even-par 72 to miss the cut line by one.

Will Zalatoris

After a long spell out with injury in 2023, former World No.7 Zalatoris took a while to return to some of his best form after his comeback.

However, the Zalatoris of old has resurfaced in recent tournaments, with finishes including a T2 at the Genesis Invitational and a T4 at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.

He must have entered this week's event in confident mood, but it didn’t work out. A one-over 73 in the first round followed by a 75 in the second, which included a triple-bogey on the par-4 fifth, were enough to send him packing.

Justin Rose

After hovering beneath the cut line in the second round, the 2013 US Open champion appeared to have found some form just at the right time with a birdie on the 16th to move him above the threshold. 

Then disaster struck at the dreaded 17th as Rose found the water not once but twice to leave him needing to hole the ball with his first putt for a triple-bogey. 

He couldn't manage it, and eventually had to settle for a quadruple-bogey seven to move him back beneath the cut line and facing an inevitable early exit.

Lucas Glover

It may be 15 years since Lucas Glover's sole Major win at the US Open, but he proved he can still compete with the best with back-to-back wins at the 2023 Wyndham Championship and FedEx St. Jude Championship. 

He's had a slow start to 2024, though, and that continued in the opening round of The Players Championship with a three-over 75 that included a double-bogey on the fifth. 

Glover's second round was far better, and he finished with a three-under 69, but it wasn't enough to book a place in the weekend. He ended up one adrift of the cut line.

Keegan Bradley

The 2011 PGA Champion had a solid if unspectacular start to the event, with an even-par 72, which would have given him some encouragement that he could push on in the second round. 

Instead, though, it went the other way for the World No.13. Bradley only mustered two birdies in the second round, but the infamous island green 17th was really where his challenge fell apart. 

After finding the water with his tee shot, Bradley didn't fare much better after his third shot found the green, needing three putts to settle for a triple-bogey six.

Billy Horschel

With the exception of a bogey on the eighth, the seven-time PGA Tour winner had a virtually blemish-free first round 71 to leave him in with a good chance of progressing to the weekend. 

He appeared to be set for just that in the second round, but a double-bogey on his penultimate hole of the day, the eighth, saw his chance begin to slip away, and a par on the final hole wasn't enough to see him over the line.

Nicolai Hojgaard

The World No.35 has been enjoying a higher profile than ever since his confident appearance at the 2023 Ryder Cup, where he helped Team Europe to victory at Marco Simone. 

Unfortunately, this was not one of his better weeks. While a one-over opening round of 73 was hardly a disaster, his 76 in the second round, which included seven bogeys, was nowhere near good enough, and his first appearance at the event ended in disappointment. 

Webb Simpson

Simpson has achieved great things in the game, including victory at the 2012 US Open and a win at The Players Championship in 2018. In truth, though, the former World No.4 hasn't been at his best for some time, and that continued at the 2024 event. 

The 38-year-old carded a one-over 73 in the first round, but if that offered some hope he could make it to the weekend, it began to dissipate with back-to-back bogeys on his fourth and fifth holes of the day. 

He rallied later, with a run of three birdies in four holes between his eighth and 11th, but it wasn't quite enough, and he finished one short of the cut line.

Matt Kuchar

The 2012 champion got off to a blistering start in his opening round with a run of birdie-eagle-birdie in his first three holes. However, he couldn't sustain the momentum, and eventually finished two-over, not helped by a double-bogey six on his ninth of the day, the 18th. 

There were none of the same fireworks in the nine-time PGA Tour winner's second round, but there was another double-bogey, this time at the fourth, and even though he finished two shots better off than the opening round, it wasn't enough to see him through to the weekend.