Players Championship 2015 cut line: Phil Mickelson heads home, Jordan Spieth in danger

Pete Dye’s Stadium Course has historically brutalized some of the biggest names in the game. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy said he is just now starting to like the place after several missed cuts and horrendous rounds. Bubba Watson has said he and the course just don’t get along. It’s one of the places on Tiger Woods’ annual schedule that has not been particularly friendly to him. He has two wins but also a whole lot of mediocre-to-bad results -- nothing like his regular stops at Torrey Pines, Doral, Bay Hill, or Firestone. Phil Mickelson also has a win, but aside from that 2007 edition, he’s rarely in contention and often missing the cut.

Those are some of the most decorated players in the history of the game, and they’ve all had trouble figuring out a consistent approach at TPC Sawgrass.

This year, Mickelson is the early headliner who is definitely headed home before the weekend. The lefty actually wasn’t playing too poorly on Thursday, arriving at the 18th tee under-par and in the hunt. But then his tournament effectively ended when he hit the bulkhead down the left side of that fairway and bounced into the massive lake that abuts the 18th. He’d make a double bogey, drop out of the red, and walk off the course feeling like he wasted an entire day’s work.

Following that double-bogey finish on Thursday, Phil looked out of it in the second round on Friday. He slogged around Sawgrass and posted a 4-over 76, which included a triple-bogey at the 18th -- putting him 5-over on that hole alone. At 5-over for the tournament and the cut line at even-par, he’s obviously missing the cut for the third straight year at The Players. After another ugly showing at this Dye course, he delivered this amusing quote to the press:

Of course, Phil is not the only one struggling to get to even-par. The hottest player on the planet, Jordan Spieth, has found no form through his one-plus round so far. Spieth matched his season-worst score on Thursday, a 3-over 75, and that put him on cut watch from the very start of Friday’s round. He’s even-par through his first six holes in the second round so he’ll have to get a move on it soon if he wants to make it to the final 36 holes. Spieth was the co-favorite when the week began, and after last year’s charge to the 54-hole lead in his TPC debut, a missed cut would be a shocking disappointment.

The biggest name juuuuuust safe on the even-par cut line is Tiger Woods. He bounced back and forth from safe to out during his entire round, before coming to his 18th green needing a birdie to get back to even. Woods buried it in the center of the cup from nine feet to probably guarantee himself two more rounds.

Here are all the players hovering around the cut line as the afternoon wave of players gets deeper into the second round: