For Davis Riley, the trip to Augusta National ended in rock-bottom fashion, producing one of the worst 36-hole performances the Masters has seen in three years

Riley shot rounds of 82 and 80 to finish at +18, which was not enough to make the cut. He ended the week at the bottom of the leaderboard. That was the worst start to the first two rounds at Augusta since Sandy Lyle’s +20 finish in 2023.

For context on just how terrible things got, Davis Riley found only nine of 28 fairways across his two rounds, the worst driving accuracy figure among all 91 players in the field. Only Rory McIlroy came close, hitting 13 of 28, and McIlroy still leads the tournament by six shots heading into the weekend.

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The numbers behind Davis Riley’s struggles are not a one-week blip. Over his last five tournaments, he has averaged -1.042 Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and -1.750 Strokes Gained: Total, painting a picture of a player who has been losing shots altogether. His approach play has offered little rescue either, averaging -0.060 Strokes Gained: Approach over the same stretch.

He finished tied for sixth at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January 2026, the best finish in his last ten starts and a real sign that he was getting back into shape. Since then, Davis Riley has missed the cut at the WM Phoenix Open (+7), the PLAYERS Championship (+19), and the Valspar Championship (+6). The only real low points in his season were a T42 at the Puerto Rico Open and a T60 at Houston.

His 2025 Masters showing also feels like a distant memory now. Last year, Riley finished tied for 21st at Augusta with a score of 2 under par. Rory McIlroy won the green jacket that week with a score of 11 under par. McIlroy is ahead of Riley by 30 shots this year. That gap, more than anything else, shows how bad things have gotten.

Round 2 didn’t single out Davis Riley alone, though. It also made for a terrible afternoon for many big names, as a string of notable exits made what was already a tough week at Augusta.

Pros who packed their bags early at the Masters

JJ Spaun arrived at the Masters just four days after winning the Valero Texas Open, carrying momentum into his third appearance at Augusta. He managed two over in Round 1, but five bogeys and just two birdies in second round gave him a 75, sending him home, missing the cut by a single shot.

Akshay Bhatia looked to have saved himself when he holed a bunker shot for birdie at the 17th to climb back above the cut line. However, a double bogey on the 18th hole negated all of that, resulting in a final score of six over par. The Arnold Palmer Invitational winner had no margin for error and found none when it mattered most.

Bryson DeChambeau’s exit was the biggest shock of the week. Back-to-back LIV Golf wins made him a solid title contender, and despite a rocky 76 in round 1, he was largely in contention through round 2 before a triple bogey on the 18th sealed his fate, leaving him two shots outside the cut.

Min Woo Lee brought strong form into Augusta, including three top-10 finishes since February and a T3 at Houston the week prior. None of it transferred. A six-over opening round left him fighting, and a five-over stretch between holes 12 and 15 on Friday ended his week at 11-over.