PGA Championship 2016 projected cut: Dustin Johnson heads for an early exit

Dustin Johnson leads the roster of big names revving up their private jets in anticipation of early exits from Baltusrol.

The reigning U.S. Open champion entered the PGA Championship as a favorite to lift the Wanamaker Trophy but, after making the turn of Friday’s second round at 8-over for the week and seven shots south of the projected cut line, looks like DJ will instead be hoisting his luggage two days sooner than anticipated.

Johnson, who began the week as No. 2 and with an outside chance of overtaking Jason Day for golf’s top ranking, started his second 18 holes tied for 143rd in the field of 156 players.

He walked to the first tee (he started on No. 10 with British Open champion Henrik Stenson and Masters winner Danny Willett) tied for 142nd place and in danger of missing just his fifth cut in a major in 31 starts.

Indeed, the laid-back Johnson had not missed a major cut since the 2014 Masters.

“I’m feeling good. I’ve got a lot of confidence in the game. I feel like I’ve been playing really consistent all year,” Johnson, who apparently declined to speak with the press after Thursday’s debacle, said on Wednesday. “I feel like every week I’ve gone out, I’ve had a chance to win. Right now, I feel like everything is going pretty well.”

Then came Thursday.

Johnson has been unable to get anything going, his final hole of the first round a microcosm of his PGA stint, as his tee shot found the water hazard on the left. A bogey ensued on the par-5 holes the long bomber should eat up.

On Friday, his drive on 18 traveled just 296 yards and landed in heavy rough to the right of the fairway, forcing him to lay up rather than having a chance to go for the green in two. He started his incoming nine at 1-over 37 after a disappointing two-putt par.

DJ was not alone in his misery. Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy blamed his balky putter for leaving him at 4-over after his first round and looking up at the 2-over cut line. Rory still has a full 18 holes ahead of him though, where DJ’s week just keeps getting worse. Out early on Friday, Sergio Garcia was also at 4-over through 10 holes at Baltusrol.

Here’s the early group hovering around the cut line, and those who could already have their bags packed like DJ:

T58 -- Rich Beem -- 1
T58 -- Jim Furyk -- 1
T58 -- Thomas Pieters -- 1
T58 -- Joost Luiten -- 1
T58 -- Danny Willett -- 1
T58 -- Patton Kizzire -- 1
T58 -- Jason Bohn -- 1
T58 -- Daniel Berger -- 1
T58 -- Tyrrell Hatton -- 1
T58 -- Kevin Kisner -- 1
T58 -- Zach Johnson -- 1
T58 -- Padraig Harrington -- 1
T58 -- Marcus Fraser -- 1
T58 -- Kevin Na -- 1
T58 -- Phil Mickelson -- 1
T58 -- Jamie Lovemark -- 1
T58 -- Hideto Tanihara -- 1
T58 -- Freddie Jacobson -- 1
PROJECTED CUT +1
T76 -- Billy Horschel -- 2
T76 -- Thongchai Jaidee -- 2
T76 -- Charl Schwartzel -- 2
T76 -- Cameron Tringale -- 2
T76 -- Si Woo Kim -- 2
T76 -- Kristoffer Broberg -- 2
T76 -- Rafael Cabrera Bello -- 2
T76 -- Billy Hurley III -- 2
T76 -- Rikard Karlberg -- 2
T76 -- Roberto Castro -- 2
T76 -- Omar Uresti -- 2
T76 -- Greg Chalmers -- 2
T76 -- George Coetzee -- 2
T76 -- Ryan Helminen -- 2
T76 -- Nicolas Colsaerts -- 2
T91 -- Harold Varner, III -- 3
T91 -- Ryan Palmer -- 3
T91 -- Jason Dufner -- 3
T91 -- Brendan Steele -- 3
T91 -- Francesco Molinari -- 3
T91 -- Jeunghun Wang -- 3
T91 -- Matt Dobyns -- 3
T91 -- Ernie Els -- 3
T91 -- Brandt Snedeker -- 3
T91 -- Keegan Bradley -- 3
T91 -- Rod Perry -- 3
T91 -- Zac Blair -- 3
T91 -- David Muttitt -- 3
T91 -- Smylie Kaufman -- 3
T105 -- Colt Knost -- 4
T105 -- Gary Woodland -- 4
T105 -- Thorbjorn Olesen -- 4
T105 -- Scott Piercy -- 4
T105 -- David Toms -- 4
T105 -- Y.E. Yang -- 4
T105 -- Luke Donald -- 4
T105 -- Byeong-Hun An -- 4
T105 -- Sergio Garcia -- 4
T105 -- Bryce Molder -- 4
T105 -- Brian Gaffney -- 4
T105 -- Darren Clarke -- 4
T105 -- John Daly -- 4
T105 -- Vijay Singh -- 4
T105 -- Matt Jones -- 4
T105 -- Rory McIlroy -- 4
T105 -- Chris Kirk -- 4
T122 -- Kevin Chappell -- 5
T122 -- Rich Berberian Jr. -- 5
T122 -- Shane Lowry -- 5
T122 -- Soomin Lee -- 5
T122 -- Mark Brown -- 5
T122 -- J.B. Holmes -- 5
T122 -- Charley Hoffman -- 5
T122 -- Jonas Blixt -- 5
T130 -- Rob Labritz -- 6
T130 -- Anirban Lahiri -- 6
T130 -- Matt Kuchar -- 6
T130 -- Bernd Wiesberger -- 6
T130 -- Kyung-tae Kim -- 6
T130 -- Peter Malnati -- 6
T130 -- Wyatt Worthington II -- 6
T137 -- Jim Herman -- 7
T137 -- Mitch Lowe -- 7
T137 -- Tommy Sharp -- 7
T137 -- Josh Speight -- 7
T141 -- Johan Kok -- 8
T141 -- Fabian Gomez -- 8
T141 -- Tony Finau -- 8
T141 -- Dustin Johnson -- 8
T141 -- Kevin Streelman -- 8
T146 -- Joseph Summerhays -- 9
T146 -- Michael Block -- 9
T146 -- Graeme McDowell -- 9
T149 -- Troy Merritt -- 10
T149 -- Rocco Mediate -- 10
T149 -- Brandon Stone -- 10
T149 -- Rick Schuller -- 10
T153 -- James Morrison -- 11
T153 -- Brad Ott -- 11
155 -- Shaun Micheel -- 12
156 -- Brad Lardon -- 16