The Masters is quickly turning into an all-or-nothing event for Bubba Watson. He’s won the event twice since 2012, but didn’t finish better than T38 in either year when he didn’t win. This year is going to be the worst finish of his career -- barring a massive comeback in the final few holes, Watson will miss the cut at the Masters for the first time in his career.
Current Masters cut line: 2-time Masters champ Bubba Watson likely headed for an early exit
Watson got off to a good start on Thursday, making the turn at 2-under, but it all unraveled from there. He shot a 41 on the back nine to finish the first round at 3-over. It didn’t get any better in the early going on Friday. He bogeyed his first hole and shot a 39 on the opening nine to drop to 6-over. He’s currently 7-over through 13 holes.
The top 50 players and ties will make the cut. That number is currently projected at 3-over, but could easily dip to 4-over with low scores rare at the moment. Only nine players are currently under par on their second round, with none better than 1-under on the day. Scoring conditions are not ripe to make a surge up the leaderboard. Barring Watson going on a birdie string on his final holes, he will head home early.
Rickie Fowler is likely also on his way to an early exit after shooting an 8-over 80 in his first round. That likely doomed him, unless he can card one of the best rounds of the day. He likely needs to shoot at least a 68, possibly better, to stick around. He started with a bogey, but added a birdie and remains at 8-over for the tournament through three holes on Friday.
Here is a look at the leaderboard and the current projected cut line of 3-over.
| Place | Player | Score | Through |
| 1 | Jordan Spieth | -7 | 1 |
| T2 | Justin Rose | -3 | 4:50 PM |
| T2 | Danny Lee | -3 | 14 |
| T2 | Scott Piercy | -3 | 10 |
| T2 | Paul Casey | -3 | 1 |
| T6 | Jimmy Walker | -2 | 10 |
| T6 | Soren Kjeldsen | -2 | 10 |
| T6 | Sergio Garcia | -2 | 9 |
| T6 | Shane Lowry | -2 | 8 |
| T6 | Jason Day | -1 | 11 |
| T11 | Hideki Matsuyama | -1 | 4:17 PM |
| T11 | Brandt Snedeker | -1 | 16 |
| T11 | Danny Willett | -1 | 9 |
| T11 | Rory McIlroy | -1 | 8 |
| T11 | Chris Wood | -1 | 4 |
| T11 | Bryson DeChambeau | -1 | 1 |
| T17 | Charley Hoffman | -1 | 3 |
| T17 | Zach Johnson | -1 | 2 |
| T17 | Kevin Na | E | 4:28 PM |
| T17 | Phil Mickelson | E | 4:39 PM |
| T17 | Henrik Stenson | E | 4:39 PM |
| T17 | Kiradech Aphibarnrat | E | 16 |
| T17 | Ian Poulter | E | 13 |
| T17 | J.B. Holmes | E | 8 |
| T17 | Victor Dubuisson | E | 6 |
| T17 | Lee Westwood | E | 3 |
| T17 | Emiliano Grillo | E | 1 |
| T28 | Daniel Berger | +1 | 4:50 PM |
| T28 | Brooks Koepka | +1 | 5:01 PM |
| T28 | Troy Merritt | +1 | F |
| T28 | Smylie Kaufman | +1 | 14 |
| T28 | Kevin Streelman | +1 | 6 |
| T28 | Louis Oosthuizen | +1 | 2 |
| T28 | Dustin Johnson | +1 | 1 |
| T28 | Bernhard Langer | +2 | 12 |
| T36 | Harris English | +2 | 4:28 PM |
| T36 | Marc Leishman | +2 | 4:39 PM |
| T36 | Jamie Donaldson | +2 | 4:50 PM |
| T36 | Keegan Bradley | +2 | 16 |
| T36 | Rafael Cabrera-Bello | +2 | 14 |
| T36 | Davis Love III | +2 | 14 |
| T36 | Thongchai Jaidee | +2 | 4 |
| T43 | Cameron Smith | +3 | F |
| T43 | Matthew Fitzpatrick | +3 | F |
| T43 | Billy Horschel | +3 | F |
| T43 | Hunter Mahan | +3 | 12 |
| T43 | Romain Langasque | +3 | 12 |
| T43 | Matt Kuchar | +3 | 12 |
| T43 | Anirban Lahiri | +3 | 10 |
| T43 | Angel Cabrera | +3 | 8 |
| T43 | Bill Haas | +3 | 8 |
| T43 | Martin Kaymer | +3 | 8 |
| T43 | Bernd Wiesberger | +3 | 5 |
| T43 | Tom Watson | +3 | 3 |
| T43 | Patrick Reed | +3 | 2 |
| Projected Cut 3-over | |||
| T43 | Jim Herman | +4 | 7 |
| T57 | Chris Kirk | +4 | 4:17 PM |
| T57 | Adam Scott | +4 | 5:01 PM |
| T57 | Jason Dufner | +4 | 2 |
| T57 | Justin Thomas | +4 | 1 |
| T61 | Kevin Kisner | +5 | 5:01 PM |
| T61 | Graeme McDowell | +5 | 10 |
| T61 | Derek Bard | +5 | 6 |
| T61 | Larry Mize | +5 | 6 |
| T61 | Vaughn Taylor | +5 | 5 |
| 66 | Webb Simpson | +6 | 4 |
| T67 | Byeong-Hun An | +7 | F |
| T67 | Bubba Watson | +7 | 13 |
| T67 | Trevor Immelman | +7 | 7 |
| T67 | Sandy Lyle | +7 | 5 |
| T71 | Vijay Singh | +8 | 4:17 PM |
| T71 | Andy Sullivan | +8 | 4:28 PM |
| T71 | David Lingmerth | +8 | 17 |
| T71 | Charl Schwartzel | +8 | 14 |
| T71 | Russell Knox | +8 | 14 |
| T71 | Branden Grace | +8 | 13 |
| T71 | Fabian Gomez | +8 | 10 |
| T71 | Jin Cheng | +8 | 2 |
| T79 | Rickie Fowler | +8 | 2 |
| T79 | Ryan Moore | +9 | 9 |
| 81 | Mike Weir | +10 | F |
| T82 | Ernie Els | +11 | 11 |
| T82 | Steven Bowditch | +11 | 7 |
| T82 | Robert Streb | +11 | 7 |
| 85 | Sammy Schmitz | +12 | F |
| 86 | Mark O'Meara | +13 | 17 |
| 87 | Darren Clarke | +16 | F |
| T88 | Ian Woosnam | +19 | F |
| T88 | Paul Chaplet | +19 | 17 |
Watch Ernie Els seven-putt from six feet out
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