AUGUSTA, Ga. — Phil Mickelson, on the front nine of his Masters second round Friday, fought his way into red numbers and contention. Three hours later, he staggered off Augusta National having missed the cut for just the third time in 24 Masters.
It was a nightmarish day for Mickelson, a three-time Masters winner. He could not get a putt to go down and those misses led to more mistakes en route to a second-round 79 — his worst Masters score in 90 rounds. Mickelson’s previous worst score at the Masters was 77.
“I don’t know how to explain it; I just threw away a lot of shots, I just made a lot of poor shots in the wrong spot,” Mickelson said. “This is the worst I’ve managed myself around this golf course. I don’t know what to say. It’s disappointing.
“I love this tournament so much, and I’ve been playing so well, to come in and make some of those mistakes and the doubles and stuff that I made today is very disappointing.”
Mickelson was at 1-under par for the day and the tournament through three holes. But consecutive double bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16 with shots in the water derailed him.
“I know [the conditions were] tough, but it wasn’t as tough as I made it look,” Mickelson said. “It was very playable. If you hit good shots, I thought you could score. I thought it was very fair.”
Bubba Watson’s run of winning a Green Jacket every other year was nearly halted on Friday. Watson, who won the 2012 and 2014 Masters, looked as if he was about the miss the cut after finishing 6-over par with two rounds of 75.
But, instead of missing his a Masters cut for the first time in eight tries, Watson got a reprieve when leader Jordan Spieth stumbled at the end of his round. Because the low 50 scores and ties, as well as anyone within 10 shots of the lead make the cut, Watson gets to play the weekend.
When Watson finished with his round, Spieth was in control and it looked certain Watson was going to miss the cut.
Bubba WatsonGetty Images“Very disappointing,” Watson said. “The golf course beat me this year, so I’ve just got to improve, try to get better around this place.”
Watson had been slowed by a sinus infection this week and said it did affect him. But to his credit, he did not use it as an excuse.
“It affected me, but if I was in perfect health, I probably still could have missed the cut,’’ he said.
Watson bristled when asked how he feels about the state of his game.
“I don’t know how to answer some of these questions,” he said. “I was fourth in the world [before the Masters]. I’m still fourth in the world, so, yeah, I feel good.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever been fourth in the world, but you have pretty good confidence. There’s only three guys better than you in the world.”
Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, was assessed a two-shot penalty for grounding his club in a water hazard in Rae’s Creek on No. 13 and it caused him to miss the cut. Johnson signed for a 6-over par score through two days, but the two-shot penalty pushed him to 8-over.
Ian Woosnam, who shot 82-81 and finished 19-over par, said after his round that this was his last Masters. He played in 28 Masters, winning in 1991. He has made only one cut (2008) since 2000. … Augusta native Larry Mize , who famously beat Greg Norman in a playoff at the 1987 Masters, made an eight-foot putt on the 18th hole to make the cut at age 57.
Jim Herman, the 38-year-old former assistant pro for Donald Trump at Trump National Bedminster, failed to make the cut in his first Masters, shooting 9-over par for two days.
Herman — who got into the field with his gritty win at the Shell Houston Open last Sunday for his first career PGA Tour victory — shot 75 on Thursday and 78 on Friday.
One day after he shot his way out of the tournament with a stunning opening-round 80, Rickie Fowler shot 73 on Friday, but missed the cut at 9-over.
“This golf course is, I think, very mentally tough without the conditions, and then you add the wind and some unfortunate breaks that you may get, it’s tough, because it can wear on you,’’ Fowler said. “I didn’t play my best. I hit some good shots, made some good swings, but not what I expected to have this week, that’s for sure.”
Sergio Garcia, playing in his 70th career major championship without a win, looked poised to make a run a a big run to the top of the leaderboard, getting it to 4-under par though eight holes. But a double bogey on No. 9 set him back. He finished with a 75 and is even par, but still tied for eighth.
