DeChambeau’s sudden cut
Bryson DeChambeau, who was a headline name coming into the week, imploded on the 18th hole and missed the Masters cut — a sharp reversal from being in the final pairing last year. (sports.yahoo.com) That exit removes one of the few big-upside threats who might have forced risk into Rory’s weekend decisions. (youtube.com)
Bryson DeChambeau got to the 18th tee at Augusta National on Friday needing bogey or better to stay for the weekend, then made triple bogey 7 and finished at 6-over par, two shots outside the Masters cut line. (sports.yahoo.com) The hole came apart in stages: his tee shot leaked into the right trees, his punch-out reached the front-left bunker, his next bunker shot stayed in the sand, and the recovery after that rolled back off the green before a missed putt finished the damage. (golfdigest.com) That ending looked even stranger because DeChambeau was one of the loudest names in the field on Wednesday, not Friday night, after arriving as the reigning United States Open champion and one of the few players with enough power to change how Augusta plays. (espn.com) He had also just shown he could handle this course under maximum pressure, because he played in the final pairing at the 2025 Masters and finished tied for fifth while Rory McIlroy went on to win. (golfweek.usatoday.com) The Masters cut is simple but brutal: after 36 holes, only the top 50 players and ties keep going, so one bad hole on Friday can erase two days of work the way one bad inning can flip a baseball game. (sports.yahoo.com) DeChambeau had already burned through most of his margin on Thursday, when he opened with a 76 that included another triple bogey, this one at the 11th hole. (sports.yahoo.com) By Friday evening, the tournament had tilted hard toward McIlroy, who reached 12-under par and took a six-shot halfway lead after closing with four straight birdies. (sports.yahoo.com) That changes the weekend math, because DeChambeau was one of the few chasers with a recent Augusta record and enough scoring volatility to force McIlroy into answering birdies instead of protecting a cushion. (golfweek.usatoday.com) Instead, the player who spent Thursday and Friday fighting the cut line is gone before Saturday, and the shot everyone will remember is not a 350-yard drive but a bunker ball that came back to his feet on the last hole. (golfdigest.com)
