Check out the big names who missed the cut at LACC

LOS ANGELES – Golf is cruel.

The U.S. Open will continue without Jordan Spieth, who made two bogeys in his last three holes to miss the cut on the number, and his pal Justin Thomas, who shot 81 on Friday, his second-highest round of his career. It was Phil Mickelson’s 53rd birthday — golf doesn’t care. You’re a SoCal native, Max Homa? Too bad. No matter who you are, it still hurts to pack your bags and hit the road on cut day.

“There is nothing fun about living on that cut line. I did it for 12 years,” said PGA Tour XM radio analyst Colt Knost. “It will make you pull your hair out if you have any left.”

After a day of record scoring on Thursday, the pros didn’t go quite as low in the second round but the cut still fell at 2-over 142. That meant 66 golfers, including Jon Rahm, who made the cut on the number to extend the longest active streak of made cuts in majors to 16, can still dream about hoisting the trophy at the 123^rd U.S. Open on Sunday.

Here are some of the big names who have the weekend off to mull over what went wrong.

Jordan Spieth hits a tee shot on the 9th hole during the second round of the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. (Photo: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports)

Spieth, the 2015 U.S. Open champion, bogeyed two of his final three holes to miss the cut on the number.

On Friday, he made a birdie at the difficult par-3 11^th to get back to even par for the tournament, but made three bogeys – at Nos. 13, 16 and 17 – to seal his fate. Spieth drove it crooked – hitting just 14 of 26 fairways – and his irons weren’t as precise as they have been this season as he ranked T-104 in proximity. Spieth, ranked 10th in the world, missed his third cut in his last five starts.

Phil Mickelson oand his caddie Tim Mickelson on the seventh tee during the second round of the 123rd U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club. (Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

On his 53^rd birthday, Mickelson made five bogeys and a double bogey and shot 74 to miss the cut by one. He thought his game was rounding into form but the dream of completing the career Grand Slam will have to wait another year. Mickelson’s vaunted short game was downright rotten this week: he was 4 for 12 in scrambling. Mickelson’s putter stunk on Friday. He lost more than two strokes on the greens. Mickelson missed the cut for the second straight year at the U.S. Open.

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