COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hideki Matsuyama knows that golf can be cruel.
The Japanese golfer, winner of the Memorial in 2014 and the Masters in 2021, has dealt with a neck injury of late that has stolen some of his distance and forced him to sit out for a month. Asked how’s he feeling, he said, “I feel great. You never know, though, tomorrow morning.”
One day, you have the world by a string, you’re winning the Memorial and your dream of your family celebrating with you on the 18th green comes to fruition. That was Billy Horschel at the 2022 Memorial. One year later, he shot 84 and was holding back tears as he tried to process what had happened during a live interview. Horschel was sent packing on Friday but maybe with an ounce of confidence restored after making six birdies and shooting even-par 72.
That 12-stroke one-day improvement should provide some solace to Horschel as he searches for answers to how his game has soured since one of the crowning achievements of his career.
Justin Thomas’s dip from PGA Championship winner last May to missed cut at the Memorial isn’t as drastic as Horschel but he’s none too happy to be leaving Jack’s Place early and his game appears to have a few more holes in it than he would like with the U.S. Open less than two weeks away.
Among those players who were feeling great like Matsuyama on Friday? World No. 5 Xander Schauffele’s score improved by 11 shots – from an opening-round 77, his highest score since the second round of the 2022 Masters, to a second-round 66. Matt Kuchar went from 79 to 67. And how about nine-time Tour winner Brandt Snedeker, who shot 73-72—145 to make the cut in his first start since September after undergoing experimental surgery on his sternum. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler snuck in on the number — it took 3-over 147 or better to be among the 66 players moving on to the weekend — despite missing a short par putt at 18 that left him dismayed. Golf, it giveth and it taketh away.
As Horschel noted on Thursday, “As low as it feels, it feels like I’m not that far off at the same time. Which is insane to say when you see me shoot 84 today. It doesn’t, it wouldn’t make sense to a lot of people. But I don’t think I’m that far off.”
Confidence is knowing your best golf is still to come. Here are the notables who missed the cut and are hoping better golf for them is just around the corner.
Jason Day 76-72—148
Local resident Jason Day, who won last month at the AT&T Byron Nelson for the first time in five years, bogeyed his 18th hole on Friday to miss the cut by one. At least he’ll have a short ride home.
Day, who entered the week in fifth place in the FedEx Cup standings, hasn’t broken par in his four rounds since shooting a final-round 62 in Dallas. Day has missed back-to-back cuts and three of his last four starts, with the exception being the W.
Day rallied inside the cut line with an eagle at the par-5 11th, a birdie at the par-5 15th and three sand saves on the inward nine before chipping 44 feet past the hole on his third shot at 18 and missing the par putt to make his efforts all for naught.
Despite living nearby, Day said he never plays at Muirfield Village except during the tournament week and has struggled at Jack’s Place, recording just one top-10 finish and two top 25s in 14 starts.
Chris Kirk 74-74—148
Kirk has cooled off since winning the Honda Classic in late February. He entered the week ranked 15th in the FedEx Cup and No. 37 in the world but shot a pair of 74s to miss his second straight cut. Kirk has shot 70 or higher in 11 of his last 13 rounds. Blame his putter for his short week. Kirk lost nearly four strokes to the field in the second round, which ranked 117th out of 119 players in the field this week.
Cameron Young 74-75—149
Young, the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year last season, left Muirfield Village Golf Club last year after one of his few disappointments: he shot 84 in the final round of the 2022 Memorial to tumble down the leaderboard to T-60. This time, he’s going home on Friday after missing his second straight cut (PGA Championship).
Young entered the week at No. 43 in the FedEx Cup standings and ranked 16th in the world. His putting was his downfall at the Memorial. Young made just three birdies and lost more than two strokes to the field in both rounds on the greens. He ranked 115th out of 118 players thru 36 holes in Strokes Gained: Putting. Young, who made the cut at his first 12 starts this season before the mini two-event slump will try to right the ship next week at the RBC Canadian Open.
Justin Thomas 75-75—150
Thomas shot a pair of 75’s and has the weekend off after making just six birdies in two rounds. He missed just his second cut of the season – his other was at the Masters – in 12 starts. It’s been a disappointing season for Thomas, who is winless since the PGA Championship last May and entered the week No. 71 in the FedEx Cup standings with only two top-10 finishes and none in his last five starts.
Thomas was 2 under after eight holes on Thursday, but bogeyed nine and shot 40 on the back nine. On Friday, he opened with back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 10 and 11 and made double at 18 to drop to 5 over and managed a single birdie coming home. Thomas struggled with the putter, losing strokes to the field on the greens in both rounds. He was also 7 of 18 in scrambling, which is a recipe for trunk slamming on Friday.
It marked the fourth time in nine starts at Jack’s Place that Thomas has headed home early.
Corey Conners 77-75—152
Conners, a former Kent State grad, usually loves to play at Jack’s Place but this time he missed the cut for the first time in five starts at the Memorial.
He entered the week 24th in the FedEx Cup and 29th in the world, with a win at the Valero Texas Open in April and was in the mix at the PGA Championship before skying to 75 on Sunday.
His last three rounds have been 75-77-75.
Usually a reliable ball striker, Conners lost more than three strokes to the field in his approach game on Thursday when he shot 77, and his putter let him down during Friday’s 75 when he lost more than two strokes to the field on the greens.
The Canadian will try to regain his mojo next week at the RBC Canadian Open.
Kevin Kisner 75-79—154
A disappointing season continues for Kisner, who shot 75-79.
He has missed the cut in eight of his last nine stroke-play events and also has a WD. He hasn’t had a top-10 finish since the Travelers Championship in June. He hasn’t shot in the 60s in his last 21 rounds on Tour dating to the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Kisner entered the week at No. 192 in the FedEx Cup standings. It seemed as if he was on the verge of a breakthrough on Thursday, making three birdies in his first seven holes, but came home in 42, playing the final three holes in 4 over to shoot 75.
On Friday, his approach game was atrocious as he lost more than four strokes to the field and his putting slipped into the negative. He didn’t make a birdie all day en route to shooting 79.
Tom Kim 79-75—154
After winning twice in a span of four starts on the PGA Tour in 2022 and becoming the darling of the Presidents Cup, Kim has hit a bit of a sophomore slump. He missed his second straight cut – his fourth in 18 starts – and hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish in an individual event since the American Express in January.
Kim hit just four of 14 fairways on Thursday, which led to seven bogeys and a double bogey at the sixth. It didn’t help Kim’s cause that he was two for 10 in scrambling. Add it all up and it amounted to a 7-over 79. That was his highest score in 98 career rounds on the PGA Tour.
Kurt Kitayama 76-79—155
Kitayama, who entered the week ranked eighth in the FedEx Cup standings and 20th in the OWGR, has been feast or famine this season. He has a win at Arnold’s Place, a runner up at the CJ Cup, a T-4 at the PGA Championship last month and advanced to the elite eight of the WGC Dell Match Play, but this was his eighth missed cut in 18 starts.
On Thursday, he started on the back nine and made five bogeys in a span of six holes and shot 40 on his opening nine. It didn’t get much better from there.
Billy Horschel 84-72—156
Horschel, the tournament’s defending champion, showed how fragile the game can be even at the highest level. He shot 12-over 84 and then bared his soul about the struggles he’s facing on the course of late.
“My confidence is the lowest it’s been in my entire career, I think ever in my entire golf career,” Horschel said.
He lost nearly 11 strokes to the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and was shut out from making a birdie on Thursday, but he came back a day later and recorded six birdies – but also a triple-bogey eight at the fifth – to shoot even-par 72.
It marked his third missed cut in his last five starts. Horschel is going to have to get back on track soon if he wants to make the FedEx Cup playoffs. (He entered the week at No. 108 and only the top 70 qualify this year.)
