8 Notable Names Set To Miss The Cut At The Open De France

Following hot on the heels of the BMW PGA Championship is another big DP World Tour event, the Open de France at Le Golf National.

The tournament has had some big-name winners through the years, including Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer, Graeme McDowell and Tommy Fleetwood.

After two rounds of the 2026 edition, some of the game's highest-profile players remain in contention to join that list, with the likes of leader Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg and Fleetwood all safely through to the weekend.

However, for some other standout names in the field, the week ended abruptly with a missed cut.

With play suspended due to bad light before the second round could be completed, the cut is not yet official, and some of those currently outside the projected three-under mark could yet make the weekend when play resumes on Saturday.

Here are the notable players either already heading home or currently set to miss out.

Cameron Smith (+2)

Were he not a LIV Golfer, there is every chance 2022 Open champion Smith would have been a talisman for the International Presidents Cup team this week.

Instead, he was in France hoping for his first DP World Tour title since the 2022 Australian PGA Championship.

A costly finish from Smith, which included two double-bogeys in his last three holes, ended his chances.

That included finding the water for the second consecutive day with his approach at the par-4 18th.

Carlos Ortiz (+1)

The LIV Golfer has 10 professional wins, but he is yet to claim a DP World Tour title.

He came close in July with a T4 at the BMW International Open, but he couldn't reproduce that form in France.

An even-par 71 in the first round was hardly a disaster for Ortiz, and he was one under for the tournament with two holes remaining on Friday.

However, back-to-back bogeys left him one over and four shots outside the cut line.

Bud Cauley (-2)

With play suspended due to bad light before the second round could be completed, Cauley (along with Victor Perez and Shaun Norris below) could yet make the weekend if the projected cut moves from three under to two under when play resumes on Saturday.

However, as things stand, the American is on the wrong side of the line.

Cauley made headlines in June when he claimed his maiden PGA Tour title in his 239th start on the circuit at the RBC Canadian Open.

That was an emotional moment for Cauley, because it came a little over two years after he returned to the pro game following an extended absence recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident.

However, any hopes he had of adding a second national open title to his resume in France are all but over.

Cauley didn't perform badly in his two rounds, finishing on two-under for the week, but with the projected cut line set at three-under-par, it doesn't look like it'll be quite enough for the American.

Manuel Elvira (+12)

On Sunday, Manuel Elvira was potentially one hole from his maiden professional win at the DP World Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship.

An 18th-hole collapse meant that instead of the Spaniard, it was JJ Spaun lifting the trophy at Wentworth, but any hopes he had of putting that disappointment behind him at Le Golf National were scuppered early.

Elvira shot a disastrous nine-over-par 80 on Thursday followed by a three-over-par 74 on Friday to crash out in 141st place.

Victor Perez (-2)

Like Cauley, Perez can count himself a little unfortunate to find himself beneath the projectd cutline in his homeland.

The three-time DP World Tour winner will likely look back with some bemusement on a remarkable two rounds that included a hole-in-one but also three triple-bogeys.

The most consequential came on what turned out to be his final hole of the tournament, wiping out the relatively comfortable gap between him and the cutline.

Shaun Norris (-2)

Thanks to several top-10s on the DP World Tour this season, Norris is knocking on the door of a PGA Tour card via the Race to Dubai rankings.

However, the South African didn't do his chances of climbing into the list of top 10 non-exempt players any good in the first two rounds at Le Golf National.

Norris, whose most recent win came at the 2024 Alfred Dunhill Championship, seemed set for a good week after a two-under-par 69 on Thursday, but he followed that with a 71 to leave him below the projected cutline.

Elvis Smylie (+6)

Elvis Smylie had a big win on the DP World Tour at the 2024 Australian PGA Championship in his homeland, more than a year before joining LIV Golf.

The 24-year-old's reputation as a rising star received another boost on his LIV Golf debut, when he held off Jon Rahm to win in Riyadh in February.

The Open de France offered another high-profile showcase of his abilities, but this time, it didn't work out.

Rounds of 72 and 76 left him six over for the tournament, meaning he missed the cut by nine shots.

Paul Waring (E)

Less than two years ago, Waring achieved a career highlight, beating Tyrrell Hatton by two shots to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

That helped him earn a PGA Tour card, but the Englishman has largely struggled to recreate that form since.

There have been signs he is getting back to his best in recent weeks, with T11 at the Amgen Irish Open followed by T21 at the BMW PGA Championship, but he couldn't continue that this week.

Waring shot rounds of 72 and 70 to miss the cut by three shots.