Bryson DeChambeau woke up Friday morning with a 7-over first round at the British Open around his neck. He knew he’d need to do something special in order to make the weekend, and he did, firing a 6-under 65 to finish the day at 1-over to make the British Open cut.
“I woke up this morning and I said, you know what, I can’t give up,” DeChambeau said. “My dad always told me never to give up, just got to keep going, and that’s what I did today. I was proud of the way I fought back, really persevered through some emotionally difficult moments, and to hold myself together and not get pissed and slam clubs and throw things and all that like I wanted to.”
Advertisement
That perseverance rewarded him with two weekend tee times, which he did not get a year ago.
The top 70 and ties make the cut at The Open. That number toggled between 1-over and 2-over all afternoon. It finally settled at 1-over, meaning a birdie on 17 loomed large for DeChambeau.
Notable names who are on the wrong side of the cut line include Jason Day (+2), Zach Johnson (+3), Patrick Cantlay (+3), Patrick Reed (+5), Min Woo Lee (+6), Brooks Koepka (+7), Sahith Theegala (+7), Collin Morikawa (+7) and Adam Scott (+9).
For Cantlay, Reed and Koepka, missing the cut is a blow to their Ryder Cup chances, in that they’re not giving captain Keegan Bradley good reasons for him to make them a captain’s pick.
Advertisement
The last time the tournament was played at Royal Portrush, in 2019, the cut stood at +1. The lowest cuts relative to par since 1969, when the R&A began keeping stats for the category, were -1 in both 2006 (Royal Liverpool) and 1990 (St. Andrews). The lowest cut by total strokes was 141 in 2021 (Royal St. George’s); a +2 cut would be 144 strokes.
