The 2026 Open Championship features a stacked leaderboard heading into the weekend. Lucas Herbert is a surprise on top, but the likes of Cameron Young, Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and more lurk in the top 10 trying to chase down the Claret Jug.
While many of the game's top stars have risen to the top at Royal Birkdale over the first two rounds of play, not everyone was so fortunate to make it to the weekend. Two names in particular stand out on the list of those who missed the cut, which ended up at 1 over: Matt Fitzpatrick and Wyndham Clark.
Fitzpatrick came into this week as one of the four leading favorites at sportsbooks, as the three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season was in contention last week at the Scottish Open, has long been considered a player who could thrive on the links and in the best form of his career. However, Fitzpatrick never got it out of first gear in Southport, England, stumbling to a 72 in the first round and backing it up with another on Friday to finish at 4 over, three shots off the cut line.
Fitzpatrick was supposed to potentially snap England's 34-year drought at The Open. Not even making it to the weekend comes as a shock and is a disappointing end to Fitzpatrick's major season, failing to finish in the top 10 in what was otherwise the best year of his career.
Clark has been on a similarly excellent run of form, winning his second U.S. Open title last month and having a strong week at the Scottish Open in the tune up for The Open. Clark began the day at 3 over but had a disastrous start to his front nine with two double bogeys and three bogeys that washed out his five birdies and eagle the rest of the day. His rather staggering major championship record of having just three top 10s in his career but two of them resulting in wins will remain intact heading into 2027.
Notable players who missed the cut at the 2026 Open Championship
- Aaron Rai (+2)
- Harris English (+2)
- Tom Kim (+3)
- Wyndham Clark (+3)
- Justin Rose (+3)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (+4)
- Joaquin Niemann (+4)
- Akshay Bhatia (+4)
- Jason Day (+4)
- Gary Woodland (+9)
- Jordan Spieth (+10)
