The 2017 Masters leaderboard has plenty of big names near the top, but it also has a few surprising players below the cut line.
The top 50 and ties, as well as anyone within 10 strokes of the leader, now make the cut at Augusta National, but even the revised rules weren’t enough to save some notable previous Masters winners.
So let’s take a look at some of the golfers whose stay at Augusta came to an early end.
BUBBA WATSON
For the first time in his career, two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson missed the cut at Augusta. The 2012 and 2014 winner had never finished worse than in a tie for 50th … until Friday. He had an OK first round, especially considering the windy conditions, but he shot a 6-over-par 78 in the second round to move to 8-over par and two strokes away from making the cut.
But we’ll always have this quote:
DANNY WILLETT
The surprising 2016 champion won’t be repeating this season. Willett also missed his first Masters cut, although this only was his third time playing at Augusta, thanks to his 6-over-par 78 on Friday. That, coupled with his 1-over-par 73 from the first round, put him at 7-over par and one stroke below the cut line.
HENRIK STENSON
Stenson never has finished better than in a tie for 14th at the Masters, and he’s also missed the cut three times. However, he had made five straight cuts at Augusta heading into this week, and he’s also the fifth-ranked player in the world. So a weekend of golf without him always is noteworthy. He, like Watson, finished two strokes away from making the cut at 8-over par after rounds of 77 and 75 on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
ZACH JOHNSON
Johnson became a household name for golf fans back in 2007 when he won the Masters, but his history at Augusta since has been a bit all over the place. He’s now missed the cut in three of the last four Masters, as he couldn’t overcome a rocky first round and finished at 7-over par.
Thumbnail photo via Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY Sports Images
