PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland :Former British Open champions Collin Morikawa, Darren Clarke, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Louis Oosthuizen, Padraig Harrington and Cameron Smith missed the cut mark of one over par at Portrush on Friday.
Australian Smith, the winner at St Andrews in 2022, finished on eight over, one shot better than Ireland’s Harrington, the twice champion who had the honour of hitting the opening tee shot in the tournament.
Major champions Adam Scott, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed also failed to qualify for the weekend.
Six-times major winner Phil Mickelson did make the cut on level-par, along with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson who beat the American in an epic final-round showdown to lift the 2016 Claret Jug at Troon.
