As things get intense at Augusta National, quite a number of players have already missed the cut after two rounds. We are here to list down five of the biggest names whose exit came as a shock.
J.J. Spaun
The 2025 U.S. Open champion came to Augusta National on a high. His 17-under par at TPC San Antonio had just helped him capture the Valero Texas Open a week ago. Many would have expected him to showcase his flair in the first major of the season as well.
However, things didn’t go as planned for Spaun in the 2026 Masters Tournament. A 2-over on Thursday followed by a 3-over in the second round knocked him out of the competition early. And he only barely missed the cutline by 1 stroke.
There’s plenty of big names hovering around the cutline at Augusta, which just moved to +4 for the time being
Viktor Hovland +3
Bryson DeChambeau +4
Si Woo Kim +4
Jon Rahm +5
Patrick Cantlay +5
Brian Harman +5
J.J. Spaun +6Still much to be decided before the weekend pic.twitter.com/F0VD48y4I0
— Coolbet Canada
(@CoolbetCanada) April 10, 2026
The 35-year-old would be pretty disappointed with the result. But he has always struggled to perform on the iconic course. In his only two other appearances in the major, he hasn’t finished within the top-20. But this was the world no. 5’s first missed cut in the event.
Robert MacIntyre
Unlike Spaun, Robert MacIntyre didn’t play consecutive bad rounds in the 2026 Masters Tournament. Coming to Augusta National off three top-5 finishes this year, he shot a 1-under par in the second set of 18 holes to try to recover in the major. However, his score from Thursday had already done too much damage for him to have any shot at making the cut.
The 2025 Alfred Dunhill Links champion had a horrid start to the tournament. He shot an 8-over par to put himself in a very bad position going into Friday. Any sort of comeback would have required him to score at least 4-under 68 in the second round. Now he will need to fly back home early as his colleagues continue to play the weekend rounds to his despair. This also made it his second consecutive missed cut in the major.
Tom McKibbin
His friend, mentor, and the defending champion, Rory McIlroy, is dominating the field after two rounds. However, Tom McKibbin didn’t enjoy the same fortune. His 7-over par, the same score as McIntyre, was enough to knock him out of the major.
However, his poor performance wouldn’t be a surprise to many. He has been struggling all through the 2026 LIV Golf season. His best finish came in LIV Golf Riyadh, where he managed to end at T17 on the leaderboard. However, it’s worth noting that this was his first appearance at Augusta National. Making his debut in the major, it would have been too much to expect him to perform well.
Cameron Smith
A few months ago, the PGA Tour opened the doors for Cameron Smith to immediately return to the Tour. The Open Championship winner qualified for the opportunity by winning the said major in 2022. But after his performance at Augusta National, Brian Rolapp might have regretted allowing him to return through the ‘Returning Members Program.
Like McKibbin and MacIntyre, Smith also scored a 7-over par in the two rounds of the major. A 2-over 74 on Thursday would have helped him qualify for the weekend rounds. However, the 5-over on Friday was enough to confirm his exit from the event.
Interestingly, Smith has an excellent record in the tournament. He has had four top-6 finishes in the tournament in the past. Moreover, he had also come off with two top-10 finishes in LIV Golf this year. So he would be quite disappointed, wondering where he lost the plot at Augusta National.
José María Olazábal
Jose Maria Olazabal kicked off the 2026 Masters Tournament on a high. He shot two birdies on the second and third holes of the first round to top the leaderboard. It looked like the bachelor at 60 would finish the tournament on a high.
However, things went downhill real-quick for the two-time Masters Tournament champion. He scored two bogeys and a double bogey the rest of the round to drop down to 2-over par. It only got worse on Friday as he scored 7-over 79 to end up with a +9 on the leaderboard. But considering his age, not many expected him to compete for the title. So his second consecutive missed cut at Augusta National was not as shocking as others on the list.
