By Frank Pingue
BROOKLINE, Mass. (Reuters) – Only four of the 15 LIV golfers who started this week’s U.S. Open made the cut on Friday with former major winners Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed leading the way while Phil Mickelson headed home early.
The 156-player U.S. Open field this year included members of the Saudi-funded breakaway series after the United States Golf Association decided last week to honor the entry criteria that had already been in place for the major.
Of the LIV golfers who finished better than the three-over cut line, none were in better shape than twice major winner Dustin Johnson and 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed as both were at one over for the week after two rounds.
“I actually felt like I played a lot better today than I did yesterday,” said former world number one Johnson. “Just didn’t hit a lot of really good putts. Just nothing would go in. That’s the difference, really.”
The other two LIV golfers to make the cut are 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and Englishman Richard Bland.
Mickelson all but sealed his fate after an opening eight-over-par-78 but made it official when he returned a 73 on Friday that left him at 11 over on the week at The Country Club and near the bottom of the field.
“I enjoyed the week. Wish I had played better,” six-time U.S. Open runner-up Mickelson, who did not talk to reporters, said in a transcript provided by the USGA.
Among the other notable LIV golfers who missed the cut are 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia, 2010 British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen and world number 33 Kevin Na.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Brookline, Massachusetts; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
