The top of the leaderboard at the 2024 Players Championship is littered with major champions and major names. The likes of Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler will vie for the PGA Tour’s flagship event over the weekend, but not all big names who stepped onto the TPC Sawgrass course Thursday were as lucky this week.
Amid a resurgent start to his season, 2021 Players Championship winner Justin Thomas will be omitted from the weekend. Thomas opened with a 1-under 71 and struggled again Friday with quick left misses off the tee before signing a 2-over 74. Three dropped shots in a five-hole stretch around his turn ultimately proved to be the two-time PGA Championship winner’s undoing as he was unable to recover late in his round to jump on the right side of the cut number.Â
Thomas came into the week holding the longest active made-cut streak at the Players Championship with eight straight weekend appearances.
Also finding himself without a tee time over the weekend is Will Zalatoris, who posted rounds of 73-75. Among the favorites entering the week thanks to strong starts at the Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Zalatoris was never able to get anything going around TPC Sawgrass. He struggled around the greens Thursday and off the tee Friday with a triple bogey on the par-4 5th ultimately sealing his fate.
His fellow Dallas-area resident, Jordan Spieth, will also be flying out of Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday evening. Spieth was featured in the marquee group alongside Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland across first two days but didn’t play up to their levels.
The three-time major champion opened with a 2-over 74 but had clawed back to even par for the tournament by the time he made the turn. His second shot plugged in the greenside bunker on No. 10 and led to bogey. Spieth further hurt his chances when he failed to take advantage of the par-5 11th, but the final dagger came in the form of a double bogey on the difficult 14th en route to a second-round 72.
Here is a list of the biggest names that won’t be around for the second half of the 2024 Players Championship.
2024 Players Championship notable missed cuts
|
Justin Thomas |
+1 |
|
Eric Cole |
+2 |
|
Jordan Spieth |
+2 |
|
Russell Henley |
+2 |
|
Will Zalatoris |
+4 |