Missing the cut at the Open Championship is irrefutably the worst of the year’s four majors. Can’t argue with math right? Those who didn’t make it to Moving Day at Royal Birkdale now have a painstakingly-long wait until the Masters in April for their next chance at major championship golf.
While the chase may very well still be on for the Claret Jug, this weekend won’t be as dramatic for someone like Jordan Spieth whose pursuit of a Birkdale repeat was scuttled by putting woes on Friday that included carding a quadruple bogey at the 17th hole to finish 7-over 77.
Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose, a pair of popular names given out as potential Open winners before the tournament, also won’t have a chance to play in front of their native England fans on Saturday — or Sunday for that matter.
Before looking at who missed the cut at the 2026 Open Championship and how they fared, let’s look at how the cut works and what number proved to be the cut-off after 36 holes.
How does the Open Championship cut line work?
After 36 holes, the low 70 players and ties advance to compete in the final two rounds. Anyone finishing worse than that gets the boot. Only those making the cut earn official money from this year’s $17,750,000 million purse.
What was the cut at the Open Championship?
The players who got into the clubhouse at 1 over par or lower after two rounds at Royal Birkdale were safe from the cut. Players at 2 over or worse did not make it to the weekend.
Who missed the cut at the 2026 Open Championship?
Of those playing the best coming into the tournament, Fitzpatrick has to be the biggest name not getting to attempt a weekend push for the Claret Jug.
Recent Open Championship winners Brian Harman and Cameron Smith were other notable names being cut. Ditto for two-time Open champ Padraig Harrington, the last man to repeat back in 2007 and 2008.
2026 Tour winners not making it to the weekend at Birkdale include Viktor Hovland, Gary Woodland and Tom Kim.
Hovland was another popular pick pre-tournament. The 2026 Travelers winner went out with a 70-74. Similarly, Tom Kim heard his name mentioned quite often after winning the Scottish Open last weekend. He also opened scoring with a 70 par on Thursday, but carded a second-round 73 to miss the weekend by two shots.
Haotong Li brought in both good course history (solo third at Birkdale in 2017) and strong recent results at The Open (T-4 last year at Royal Portrush). None of that seemed to matter as he went 72-72.
Keith Mitchell, coming off his best finish at a major with a T-4 at Shinnecock, also was found shutting his trunk early in the U.K. Speaking of Shinnecock, two-time U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark is heading home after posting 73-70.
With Rory McIlroy’s second-round 67 saving him from the cut, that leaves one other 2026 major champ: Nope, sorry, Aaron Rai just missed it by a shot after carding a pair of 71s.
