2023 British Open missed cuts: Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson among stars who will not play weekend at Hoylake

Royal Liverpool is proving to be the star of the show at the 2023 Open Championship as 36-hole leader Brian Harman at 10 under appears to be the lone man to correctly answer the question the course is asking. Playing firm and fast and with a hint of breeze factored in the equation, Hoylake has presented problems for those players just a hint off their respective games.

Collin Morikawa arrived in England fresh off a playoff defeat at the Rocket Mortgage Classic but will come up just short in a different fashion. Despite making birdie on his closing hole, the 2021 Champion Golfer of the Year struck one shot too many shots with his back-to-back 73s as he stood helplessly at 4 over as the cutline shifted to 3 over in the afternoon hours.

There were few who were more off than two-time major champion Justin Thomas. Despite a solid round of even par on Friday, Thomas dug himself too deep a hole with an opening 82. His play in Round 1 marked his second consecutive major round in the 80s and may prove to be his lowest of lows. Thomas finds himself on the outside looking in for the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs, and the same may be true for the U.S. Ryder Cup team as captain Zach Johnson ponders his choices between now and the Tour Championship. 

“There’s nobody that shot 82 that hit some of the quality shots that I did yesterday,” said Thomas. “It doesn’t make sense. I’ll hit shots like a No. 1 player in the world, and then I’ll make a 9 on my last hole of the tournament. I don’t know if it’s a focus thing or I’m just putting too much pressure on myself or what it is, but when I figure it out, I’ll be better for it.”

The 15-time PGA Tour winner’s struggles have been public, and the early exit from Hoylake represents a career-worst third missed cut in major championships this season. Unlike Thomas, Dustin Johnson arrived at The Open having made all three major cuts including a top-10 finish at last month’s U.S. Open. However, like Thomas, the former world No. 1 failed to break 80 in one of the rounds and signed for a 36-hole total of 13-over 155 to miss the cut by nine strokes.

Tony Finau’s downfall was more gradual than his former Ryder Cup teammates. The American entered the week a perfect 6 of 6 in his Open career with no finish worse than T28. Finau found himself one stroke inside the cutline with four holes to play, but three straight bogeys from Nos. 15-17 led to the world No. 16 exiting early for the first time in his Open career.

These stars could have had even more company as a number of big names narrowly secured weekend tee times. Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Cantlay and Robert MacIntyre all made the cut on on the 3-over number.

2023 Open notable missed cuts