Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler make Players cut, but who missed out?
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rory McIlroy was in a fight to the finish to survive the cut at The Players.
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As he walked up the ninth hole at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, his final hole of the day, NBC’s Jim “Bones” Mackay asked him about his plans for the next few weeks in the lead up to the Masters.
“I said, Bones, ‘I'll tell you after this hole. There's a lot riding on this golf hole.’ So I mean, obviously I wanted to make the cut, of course. I mean, yeah, of course you want to be here for the weekend.”
McIlroy squeezed out a par to shoot 1-under 71 and a 36-hole total of 1-over 145 to book a weekend tee time. Asked if it wounds his pride or if he just blows it off when he misses the cut, McIlroy said, “I think a little bit of both. I think it does wound your pride. I think, I don't know, I have 280-odd starts on the PGA Tour and I've missed maybe less than 30 cuts. So, yeah, I'm proud of that. But then in golf, as everyone knows, you have to sort of blow it off and move on to the next thing. But if I had have missed the cut I probably would have added an event going into the Masters, so hopefully I'm here for the weekend and I don't have to do that.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler flirted with the cut line but finished with a birdie at the last to shoot 1-over 73 and make his 70th straight cut. But his 1-over 145 total marked the first time he was over-par through 36 holes in a non-major since the 2023 Memorial.
What was the cut at the 2026 Players?
It took a 36-hole total of 2-over 146 to make the weekend. In all 73 golfers are still alive with a chance to take home the big prize on Sunday, with 11 players making it on the number.
That group included Stephan Jaeger, who was 5 over after 15 and in danger of the weekend off but made eagle at 16 and birdie at 17 to book a Saturday tee time. So, too, did Kristoffer Reitan, who canned an 8-foot birdie at No. 9 to make it on the number. Michael Brennan doubled seven and bogeyed eight to fall on the wrong side of the cutline but he birdied his last to make it at 2 over. Rico Hoey carded eight birdies en route to 69 to bounce back from a 77 and make the cut.
Not so lucky were Rasmus Hojgaard, who missed an 11-foot birdie putt at 18 and Mac Meissner, who hit his second shot into the water at 18 and made bogey to miss by one.
Here’s a closer look at some of the notables whose play wasn’t up to snuff this week.
Gary Woodland
Woodland was one of the stories of the week after telling his story of PTSD after brain surgery. He was straddling the cut line on Friday until a bogey on 4 and double bogey on No. 6 sealed his fate.
Woodland hit just 8 of 18 greens on Thursday and ranked No. 113 in Strokes Gained: Approach. He shot 73-75—148. He’s missed the cut in 4 of the last 6 years at The Players, and hasn’t finished better than 54th.
Ben Griffin
Griffin was a breakthrough star with his first two PGA Tour wins and represented the U.S. on the Ryder Cup team. But he’s missed two straight cuts. A triple-bogey at the par-3 eighth, his 17th hole of the day, was the death blow. Griffin shot 70-78—148.
Griffin hit just seven greens on Friday and was 5 of 11 in scrambling. He ranked 116th in SG: Off the Tee and SG: Tee to Green.
Harris English
Water balls slayed English. He dunked one in the water at 17 on Thursday and made triple bogey. On Friday, he rinsed two at 18 and made a quad.
English ranked 119th in SG: Tee to Green in the second round and 116th for the two rounds. He was 121st in SG: Approach the Green for the first two rounds. It’s his first missed cut in more than a year. But perhaps not a huge surprise – it’s the eighth time in his career that he’s missed the cut at The Players.
Jake Knapp
Knapp withdrew last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and he’s headed home early after rounds of 75-72—147. It's the first missed cut of the season for Knapp. He doubled 18 on Thursday and on Friday he couldn't get a birdie over the final five holes and missed by a stroke.
Sungjae Im
He made his first start since last October due to a wrist injury last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and missed the cut. Im still is knocking off the rust. He shot 75 on Thursday, making double at 14 and bogeys ad Nos. 15 and 16 for a three-hole stretch that put him behind the 8-ball.
Im birdied 16 to move to 2 over for the tournament but took 3 putts from 48 feet at No. 17 to make a bogey and missed the cut by one. Im’s short game is especially rusty. He was 5 of 13 in scrambling for the week.
Shane Lowry
Lowry dug himself a big hole with a quadruple-bogey snowman 8 at the 18th hole on Thursday. Two birdies in his first four holes had him straddling the cutline but he bogeyed four of the next six holes. He shot 76-73—149. The usually sure-handed Lowry ranked 115th in SG: Around the Green. He also missed the cut last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Players 2026 missed cut list includes some notable big names