Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson missed the cut

World No. 1 Lydia Ko came out early to the Chevron Championship and said she nearly ran out of balls in that first loop around the Nicklaus Course at the Club at Carlton Woods.

“To be honest, I struggled the first few times I played around this course,” Ko said earlier in the week, “and I was like, I don’t know how I’m going to do this.”

Turns out it didn’t get much better for Ko, who shot 76 with a birdie on the last hole in Round 2, finishing at 3 over for the tournament and missing the cut in a major for the first time since the 2019 AIG Women’s British Open.

Play was suspended on Friday evening due to darkness with 31 players still left to finish. They returned at 7 a.m. Saturday morning to wrap up play, with 68 players making the cut, which fell at 1 over.

While the field this week was larger than in past years (135) due to daylight savings, the cut was smaller at top 65 and ties.  For the first time in tournament history, those who missed the cut received a $5,000 stipend of unofficial money.

The World No. 1 wasn’t the only big name to bow out early. Here’s a list at the other notables who missed the cut:

Lydia Ko of New Zealand lines up a putt on the eighth hole during the first round of The Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods on April 20, 2023 in The Woodlands, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

The Chevron marked Ko’s sixth start to the season and her first missed cut at an LPGA event in two years. Ko hit nine fairways, 10 greens and took 30 putts in her second-round 76 that stretched over two days.

Lexi Thompson of the United States walks down the first fairway during a practice round prior to The Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods on April 19, 2023, in The Woodlands, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Lexi Thompson has teed it up in only two LPGA events this season and missed the cut in both. In the second round at the Nicklaus Course, Thompson took 31 putts en route to a 72. She revealed early in the week that she was experiencing pain in her right wrist from grinding too much on the practice range at home.

Jennifer Kupcho at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain. The defending champ at the Chevron had a rough two rounds. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Defending champion suffered a double-bogey and a triple on her back nine in the second round to miss the cut one year after making…