Quail Hollow Club has proven to be a challenging test for the game’s best golfers. See which big-name players failed to qualify for the weekend.
The low 70 players on the leaderboard at the end of the second round of play, along with those players tied for 70th or better, qualified to play in the third and fourth rounds at this year’s PGA Championship. When play concluded Friday evening, 74 players finished at 1 over (143), which established the cut. Golfers who posted scores of 2 over (144) or higher failed to make the cut and are now out of the tournament.
While the top of the leaderboard is a blend of stars – like 2021 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick (6 under), Max Homa (5 under) and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (5 under) – and players looking to break through in a major for the first time like Jhonattan Vegas (8 under), Matthieu Pavon (6 under) and Si Wood Kim (6 under), a number of big names aren’t going to make the weekend at Quail Hollow Club.
Here’s a look at some notables who missed the 36-hole cut in the 2025 PGA Championship: (And here’s our live updates page for the 2025 PGA Championship)
Jordan Spieth, 2 over
After shooting a disappointing 76, Spieth made an eagle on the 10th hole Friday (his first), then bounced back from a bogey on 13 with a birdie on 18, the hardest hole on the course Friday. After making the turn at 2 under for the day (3 over for the tournament), the three-time major winner made two birdies and just one bogey on the front nine for an impressive 68. However, it wasn’t good enough and he missed the cut by a shot, missing out once again on his chance to complete the career Grand Slam with a win at the PGA Championship.
Shane Lowry, 2 over
Shane Lowry lost it after getting an awful break on the eighth hole Friday. With his score at 1 over, Lowry hit his drive, but his tee shot came to rest in someone else’s pitch mark, nestling down into the turf. After asking for relief and being denied, he punched out as best he could and slammed his club into the ground, creating a divot that Paul Bunion would admire. A bogey on that hole lifted his score to 2 over and Lowry missed the cut by a shot.
Sepp Straka, 2 over
A two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, Straka was victorious last week at the Truist Championship, so many thought he could break through this week and capture his first major. He drove the ball well, but his short game was ice cold ‒ Straka finished No. 128 in Strokes Gained: Around the Green. He missed the cut by one shot.
Justin Thomas, 3 over
The two-time PGA Championship winner came into Charlotte on a high after winning the 2025 RBC Heritage the week after the Masters, but a 73-72 first 36 holes left him at 3 over.
Hideki Matsuyama, 3 over
Heading his final nine holes on early Friday afternoon, Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion was at 1 over. He made eight consecutive pars before hitting into the trees on the left of the ninth fairway. After pitching out and leaving himself 184 yards to the hole, his third shot few to 32 feet from the cup. Matsuyama missed the par putt, tapped in a 9 inch bogey putt and missed the cut by a shot. Afterward, he went to the range and was seen on the broadcast taking out his frustrations by smashing driver shots, one after another, as hard as he possibly could.
Keith Mitchell, 3 over
Cashmere Keith started Friday at 1 over, so he needed a fast start, but bogeys on one, two, and five pushed his score up to 4 over. Birdies at 14, 15, 16 and the brutal 18th could make up for the front-nine 38 and he finished at 3 over.
Ludvig Aberg, 4 over
An opening-round 70 gave the Swede reason to feel optimistic coming into Friday, but going bogey, double-bogey, double-bogey through The Green Mile gave him a first-nine 40 and lifted Aberg’s overall score of 4 over. Birdies at one and three were offset by bogeys on five and seven.
Patrick Reed, 4 over
Patrick Reed has always been a good putter and possessed a tremendous short game, but he ranked among the worst players in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee through the first two rounds at this year’s PGA Championship.
Cameron Smith, 7 over
How bad was Cameron Smith’s driving and iron play on Thursday when he shot 78? The 2022 British Open champion ranked 148th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee in the first round and 151st in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green. An eagle on the 10th hole to start his day gave the Australian a flicker of hope, but he made bogey on the 11th and then double-bogey on the 12th to lose his momentum.
Phil Mickelson, 9 over
Mickelson had a tough day on Thursday, shooting 79 after struggling with every aspect of his game. Friday, however, Lefty showed flashes of the form that helped him win the Wannamaker trophy in 2005 and 2021, making birdies at seven, eight, nine and the 11th hole. Then came the 12th, where Mickelson needed four shots to get out of a bunker on the left side of the green. After that quadruple-bogey eight, even birdies at 13 and 14 couldn’t save his 2025 PGA Championship aspirations.
Brooks Koepka, 9 over
A three-time winner of the PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka has been a force in majors for nearly a decade, but this was not his week, especially on holes one, two and three. Playing each of those holes twice over this week, he was a combined 8 over par with four bogeys and two double-bogeys. He finished the week ranked T-129 in Strokes Gained: Putting.
Justin Rose, 9 over
The golf world is still buzzing over Rory McIlroy’s win at the Masters, but Justin Rose nearly stole the show and beat McIlroy down the stretch, then showed tremendous sportsmanship and poise after losing the Masters in a playoff for the second time. Rose had no answer for the back nine at Quail Hollow, shooting 40 and 39, respectively, in the first and second rounds.
Russell Henley, 10 over
Two months ago, Russell Henley won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and heading into the Masters, he was quietly being mentioned as a great dark horse pick to win the season’s first major. That didn’t happen, and an opening round 77 was more than he could recover from. Henley didn’t drive the ball well, didn’t putt the ball well, and scored just three birdies.
Dustin Johnson, 12 over
Dustin Johnson won the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, the course that will host the U.S. Open again in a month. Let’s hope DJ can improve his putting between now and then because he needed 36 putts on Thursday when he shot 78 and 34 putts Friday when he carded a 76. Ouch!
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