While Rory McIlroy was torching Congressional on Friday, several big names in the world of golf (old and young alike) were struggling to make the cut. The official cut line ended up being +4, with those golfers at four and over moving on in the Open, and anyone shooting five over or worse being bounced. The most notable golfer, at least in this humble blogger's opinion, to miss the cut was three time major champion Ernie Els. Els, the winner of the Open the last time it was at Congressional Country Club in 1997, shot a 73/75 to finish +6, two shots above the cut line.
But not to worry Ernie, you have plenty of company. Georgetown Waterfront trick-shot artist Rickie Fowler missed the cut by one shot. Fellow "Golf Boy" Hunter Mahan also missed the cut. Ian Poulter, 2004 U.S. Open champion, love the threads, but you too are taking a seat on the weekend. Jim Furyk - sorry sir, nothing to see here, you need to move on. David Toms, K.J. Choi and Geoff Ogilvy - I hear there are some great restaurants in Bethesda. You might want to go check them out.
Of the golfers who managed to make the cut by the skin of their teeth, the two I will be most closely following are Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson. Both were a stroke from sitting out the rest of the Open, but now have absolutely zero pressure on them as they make their Saturday trek around the course. Good things could happen.