Jon Rahm recorded a double bogey and seven bogeys while making a precipitous fall in the second round of the U.S. Open with an 8-over-par 78 on Friday, and he missed the cut.
Rahm was tied for fifth after the opening round at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club at Southampton, N.Y., but that 2-under 68 was a distant memory on Friday. The Spaniard made a single birdie, at the par-5 fifth hole, and finished at 6-over 146 for the two rounds, two strokes over the cutline.
The 2021 U.S. Open champion had not missed the cut at this tournament since 2018, when it was last at Shinnecock. The only other time he didn’t make the weekend at a major since 2019 was the 2024 PGA Championship.
Bryson DeChambeau bogeyed the par-3 17th hole to drop to 5 over, then made par on No. 18 and missed the cut by one stroke after rounds of 70-75.
DeChambeau carded double bogeys on the par-4 Nos. 3 and 4 holes in the second round to descend from even par through two holes to 4 over.
The U.S. Open champion in 2020 and 2024, DeChambeau countered with a birdie at the par-5 No. 5 but bogeyed Nos. 6 and 8 for 38 on the front nine. Bogeys at Nos. 13, 15 and 17, surrounding a birdie on the par-5 16th hole, undermined his chances.
He also missed the cut at the Masters in April, the PGA Championship in May and at the U.S. Open in 2025.
Brooks Koepka, who captured the U.S. Open at Erin Hills in 2017 and at Shinnecock in 2018, will not play on the weekend at the tournament for the first time since his debut in 2012 (aside from 2020, when he didn’t enter).
Also a winner of the PGA Championship three times (2018, 2019, 2023), Koepka followed his opening round of 73 with a 7-over 77 on Friday to drop to 10 over. Koepka, playing the back nine first, made a lone birdie on the par-3 17th against eight bogeys.
Ricky Fowler (71-74), Patrick Reed (72-73) and Norway’s Viktor Hovland (76-69) also finished at 5 over. Ireland’s Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open Championship winner, posted consecutive rounds of 73 to move to 6 over with Patrick Cantlay (74-72), South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (77-69) and Rahm.
Australia’s Adam Scott (73-75) fell to 8 over, while defending champion J.J. Spaun (77-71) got to 8 over, and neither challenged the cutline.
Amateur Miles Russell, at 17 the youngest player in the field, is tied for 46th at 3 over after a 1-over 71 on Friday, and he survived the cut. Starting his round on the back nine, Russell birdied Nos. 12 and 15, then bogeyed Nos. 2, 4 and 7 without making a birdie on a more adventurous front nine.
“Yeah, it’s really special to get to play the weekend here, just in any tournament,” Russell said. “But making (it in) a major, my first one, it’s super special, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Bud Cauley, who earned his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday at the RBC Canadian Open, was on the cutline on Friday. The 36-year-old, who turned professional in 2011, shot consecutive rounds of 72 to sit at 4-over 144 and tie for 60th heading to the weekend.
England’s Aaron Rai, winner of the 2026 PGA Championship, followed his opening-round 74 with a 3-under 67 on Friday to tie for 22nd at 1 over. Rai had five birdies and two bogeys in the second round after recording two birdies and six bogeys in the first round.
–Field Level Media
