Players Championship 2016 Leaderboard: Full Cut Line List of Players Removed
Scoring conditions at the 2016 Players Championship have been awfully favorable through two rounds, but several high-profile golfers couldn't string together consecutive productive rounds before moving day rolled around.
Among the notable names who missed the cut line of two under were Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson and defending Players Championship title-holder Rickie Fowler, each of whom struggled with consistency at TPC Sawgrass.
And while Fowler finished his disappointing 36-hole stretch on schedule, Spieth and Mickelson both wrapped up their second rounds early Saturday morning after play was suspended Friday due to darkness following a two-hour weather delay.
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Here's a look at every player who missed the cut:
| Jordan Spieth | -1 |
| Kevin Na | -1 |
| Carl Pettersson | -1 |
| George McNeill | -1 |
| Vaughn Taylor | -1 |
| David Lingmerth | -1 |
| Patrick Reed | -1 |
| Davis Love III | -1 |
| Rickie Fowler | -1 |
| Byeong-Hun An | -1 |
| Phil Mickelson | -1 |
| Charley Hoffman | -1 |
| Rafa Cabrera Bello | -1 |
| Matthew Fitzpatrick | -1 |
| J.B. Holmes | -1 |
| Danny Willett | -1 |
| Brian Stuard | E |
| John Senden | E |
| Martin Laird | E |
| Bernhard Langer | E |
| Chez Reavie | E |
| Greg Owen | E |
| Luke Donald | E |
| Kiradech Aphibarnrat | E |
| Aaron Baddeley | E |
| Andres Gonzales | +1 |
| Robert Streb | +1 |
| Brendon Todd | +1 |
| Harris English | +1 |
| Scott Brown | +1 |
| Mark Wilson | +1 |
| Kevin Kisner | +1 |
| Ryan Moore | +1 |
| Hunter Mahan | +2 |
| Padraig Harrington | +2 |
| Ricky Barnes | +2 |
| Jeff Overton | +2 |
| Emiliano Grillo | +2 |
| Nick Taylor | +2 |
| Patrick Rodgers | +3 |
| Smylie Kaufman | +3 |
| Russell Henley | +3 |
| Spencer Levin | +3 |
| Scott Pinckney | +3 |
| Charles Howell III | +3 |
| Jason Gore | +3 |
| Graham DeLaet | +3 |
| Troy Merritt | +3 |
| Tony Finau | +3 |
| Brandt Snedeker | +3 |
| Chad Collins | +4 |
| Erik Compton | +4 |
| Chesson Hadley | +4 |
| Carlos Ortiz | +5 |
| Andy Sullivan | +6 |
| Henrik Stenson | +6 |
| Jason Bohn | +7 |
| Matt Every | +7 |
| Peter Malnati | +7 |
| Jim Herman | +7 |
| Ben Martin | +8 |
| Matt Jones | +8 |
| Steven Bowditch | +9 |
| Jimmy Walker | +9 |
| John Huh | +9 |
| Jason Kokrak | Withdrawn |
| Chris Kirk | Withdrawn |
| Chris Stroud | Withdrawn |
Fowler was arguably the biggest disappointment over the tournament's first two days.
Not only did he enter the Players Championship looking to protect his 2015 title, he also posted a promising T-4 finish at last weekend's Wells Fargo Championship that indicated he was hitting his stride entering the year's so-called fifth major.
Fowler did rebound from an even par showing Thursday to post a score of one under Friday, but a double-bogey on hole No. 14 set an ominous tone for a round that started on the 10th tee.
"You're going to make mistakes out here tee-to-green," Fowler said, according to the Associated Press (via USA Today). "I wasn't able to make up for those with the putter."
According to Forbes' Erik Matuszewski, a defending champion at the Players hasn't even finished in the top 10 since Adam Scott did so all the way back in 2005.
ESPN Stats & Info expanded on that figure:
Mickelson has now missed four consecutive cuts at the Players Championship after he failed to nab a birdie on No. 17 or No. 18 to move to two under Saturday morning.
Lefty has also now missed the cut for the third time in his last four starts following failures at The Masters and the Texas Open.
Although Mickelson started his second round off in blistering fashion with an eagle on No. 2 and a birdie on No. 3, he went bogey-double bogey-bogey on holes 6-8 before making the turn at 36. He then proceeded to card two bogeys and just one birdie on the back nine.
As ESPN.com's Jason Sobel noted, Mickelson was undoubtedly discouraged by his inability to post a score of one under Saturday:
Spieth, meanwhile, had four holes to shoot one under and leap over the cut line when second-round play resumed, but a bogey on the 15th and par on the par-five 16th forced him into a scenario where he had to card birdies on the last two holes in order to qualify for the weekend.
And despite knocking his tee shot on the daunting 17th fairly close to the pin, Spieth slid his birdie putt past the hole and ensured a finish below the cut line for the second straight year at the Players.
"It's tough getting shellacked by 15 in the same group...you start to wonder why you aren't making any," Spieth told GolfChannel.com's Will Gray of playing with Jason Day, who shot a Players Championship 36-hole record 15 under.
Needless to say, this wasn't the way Spieth wanted to perform in his first action since collapsing down the stretch at The Masters. However, a couple of failures on some of the game's grandest stages could prove to be valuable learning experiences for Spieth in the long run.
"Without great failure there can be no great triumph, just the monotony of consistency," the Chicago Tribune's Bernie Lincicome wrote. "Spieth is yet allowed to measure himself against himself, always mindful that nothing can be assumed."
The miniature slump is undoubtedly cause for concern, but the 22-year-old has a month to prepare for a return to form at the U.S. Open.
And after the phenom captured his second major at the U.S. Open a year ago, he'll certainly be seeking to put forth a repeat performance at Oakmont Country Club.
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