OAKMONT, Pa. — The defending U.S. Open champion won’t be around for the weekend.
Bryson DeChambeau, the winner last year at Pinehurst who also had top-five finishes at this year’s Masters and PGA Championship, missed the cut Friday at Oakmont after a second-round 7-over 77, leaving him 10 over par for the tournament and the first defending champion since Gary Woodland in 2020 to miss the cut.
The cut line at Oakmont fell at 7-over 147.
DeChambeau, ranked 10th in the Official World Golf Ranking, is the most popular player from LIV Golf. The Saudi-backed league’s most successful player this season with four wins, Joaquin Niemann, also missed the cut at 10 over. Dustin Johnson, another LIV golfer and the last Oakmont U.S. Open champion (2016), also shot 10 over for 36 holes and missed the cut.
Phil Mickelson may have played his last U.S. Open round Friday. Competing in the last year of his exemption from winning the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah, the 54-year-old missed the cut at 8 over with double bogeys on two of his last four holes.
He played alongside fellow former British Open champion and LIV golfer Cam Smith, who also missed the cut at 8 over.
A total of six LIV golfers made the cut: Brooks Koepka (currently tied for 8th), Tyrrell Hatton (T12), Carlos Ortiz (T12), Jon Rahm (T23), Marc Leishman (T47) and Patrick Reed (T59).
Justin Thomas, ranked fifth in the world, continued his struggles in majors since winning the 2022 PGA Championship, shooting 76-76 to miss his seventh cut in his last 13 major starts.
Ludvig Aberg and Sepp Straka, the world’s No. 6 and 8 players, also missed the cut.
A friendly group in the first two rounds was the threesome of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry, and only McIlroy made the cut, rallying with two birdies in his last four holes.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas Miss Cut at U.S. Open.