2017 British Open projected cut: Phil Mickelson, John Daly heading for early exits

The cut line at The Open Championship stands at 3-over (those at 4-over are out, 3-over are in) early in the second round on Friday at Royal Birkdale. That 3-over mark is tentative, to be sure, with weather projected to come in for the afternoon wave of tee times. If it blows the way the forecast predicts, then the scores could get really ugly for the second half of the field and bump the cut line.

So it’s critical for the morning players, even if they’re struggling, to just hang around the projected cut line of 3-over. You may be on the wrong side of it right now, but that can change in a hurry once you’re in the house and your colleagues are out there getting swept around Birkdale.

One player who is not keeping his score particularly close to the projected 3-over cut line is Phil Mickelson. The runner-up last year is 6-over and in a tie for 110th place. After posting a 3-over 73 yesterday, big Phil needed to get a run going early Friday morning to try and take advantage of a potential friendly weather break. Instead, he’s gone the wrong way with a 3-over 37 on the front nine that featured a triple bogey 7 on his third hole of the day.

Phil started the week saying he was taking his driver out of the bag, opting to go with a “hot” 3-wood and multiple 3-irons. It was classic Phil tinkering with the bag and maybe overthinking, but the “Phrankenwood” approach had yielded success in the past at both The Open and the Masters. Mickelson quickly adjusted, however, opting to put the driver back in the bag for the second round. That hasn’t helped at all and he’s still gone wild, throwing away shots to tumble toward the bottom of the leaderboard.

Aside from Phil, there are not many notable or what you might call “star” names plunging below that 3-over cut line. Jason Day tanked it a bit at the end of his round and may MC for the second straight major. It could change in the afternoon, but so far we’ve got many of the superstars you see each week on the broadcast safely inside the cut line.

John Daly may be one star name you’re familiar with, but no one was expecting much from the 1995 champion golfer of the year. Daly last made an Open cut in 2012. He’s already done for the week, posting a 12-over 152 over two days and likely on his way to the airport.

Here’s your leaderboard on Friday:

And here’s the group on the wrong side of the 3-over cut line early in the round: