Links courses are way more challenging to play because of the natural coastal terrain. Rolling dunes, firm conditions, and unpredictable sea winds can trouble even elites. But things are even tougher at Royal Birkdale, and who better to confirm that than the veteran Tiger Woods, who called it “one of the hardest” Open Championship venues. On Friday, the Merseyside venue claimed its victims and sent two reigning major champs packing their bags early. The projected cut line after 36 holes at The Open was 1-over, and here are the most shocking names who fell on the wrong side of it.

Aaron Rai

When Aaron Rai won the PGA Championship earlier this year, he made history. He didn’t just become the first non-American to win the event in over a decade; he also became the first Englishman to win it since Jim Barnes in 1919. Then, he followed it with a tie for 11th at the 2026 U.S. Open, where he performed even better than elites like Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young, and Hideki Matsuyama. With booming confidence through two back-to-back good finishes at majors, fans expected him to replicate the same at The Open. But the Englishman finished at 2-over after the 36 holes. Both his rounds featured just one birdie each. In addition he made three bogeys and will have to exit Royal Birkdale sooner than expected. Notably, he missed the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open as well.

Wyndham Clark

🤔 golf trivia

This Should Be an Easy One, Right?

01/10

How Many Players Are Within Five Strokes of the Lead After R1?

59394015

Oops, bogey!

But don’t worry, there’s still the back 9 to prove your high golf IQ

PLAY GOLF TRIVIA

The reigning U.S. Open winner couldn’t deliver the performance of Shinnecock Hills at Royal Birkdale. His opening round featured one birdie on the par-4 11th against four bogeys. A 3-over 73 left no margin for error for his second round. But the start of Friday couldn’t have been worse. Although he made a birdie on the first hole, he then hit two consecutive double bogeys on the next two holes. Two birdies followed, but again Clark picked up two back-to-back bogeys on the 7th and 8th. Clark still made a late charge. He had a birdie-birdie-eagle-par finish to finish even par for R2, but the damage was already done.

Tom Kim

In his second appearance at The Open at Royal Liverpool in 2023, Tom Kim finished as a runner-up behind Brian Harman. Kim had a solo 3rd at the 2026 U.S. Open and also broke his over 1,000-day winless streak with a victory at the Genesis Scottish Open last week.  His story at The Open was completely different.

Kim started with an even par opening round, which featured two birdies and two bogeys. In Round 2, though, he scored just three birdies and six bogeys. His driving was the biggest challenge today as his driving accuracy also dropped significantly, from 64.3% in Round 1 to just 28.6% today. The youngster finished at 3-over to miss the cut.

Matt Fitzpatrick

Matt Fitzpatrick was a clear favorite to win at The Open Championship. With three wins already registered this season, some analysts were even discussing his chances of winning the Player of the Year Award if he could get his hands on the Claret Jug. What’s even more shocking about his missed cut is that, just like Aaron Rai, he is an English golfer and has played a lot of links golf.

“You’ve just got to look at three or four holes for me,” Fitzpatrick said in his post-round conference. “I’ve hit decent shots, gotten no luck, and come away with 4-over par. That’s the way links golf is. You need to have that rub of the green sometimes, and I didn’t have it this week.”

He carded rounds of 72-72. The opening round featured two bogeys and a birdie. However, Round 2 was much more eventful. He started with a birdie on the par-4 2nd. While it was a good start, he never made any progress because every birdie was followed by a bogey. Throughout the round, he picked up four birdies, four bogeys, and a double bogey on the par-3 12th.

Joaquin Niemann

Joaquin Niemann is making his seventh appearance at The Open this season. The best he could manage was a T53 at St. Andrews in 2022. But he is still one of the most shocking names thanks to his standout performances this season. He finished T18 at the PGA Championship and then T7 at the U.S. Open. This time, he started the same as his last major.

His opening round at Royal Birkdale was a 6-over 76, which included four bogeys and a double bogey. He followed it with a second round of 2-under 68, featuring a bogey and three birdies. But a total of 4 over 144 meant he couldn’t book a weekend spot.

In addition, Justin Rose, Akshay Bhatia, Michael Kim, and Viktor Hovland missed the cut. Padraig Harrington, two-time Open winner, tried to make a late push. But an opening round 80 meant a second round 69 couldn’t help at all. Among veterans, David Duval also missed the cut but said he had a lot of fun and would make a comeback next year.