6 surprising players who missed the cut at the 2026 Players Championship

Shane Lowry knew that the second he let fly on the 18th hole Thursday.

The 2019 Open champion tried to get his ball to swing straight and miss the water, but he quickly gave up on the fruitless effort and watched it go down, becoming the 1,000th putt to hit the water on the finishing hole at TPC Sawgrass since 2003.

Lowry was even par when he reached the 18th on Thursday. He left at 4-over following a quadruple bogey and never recovered.

The 2025 Ryder Cup hero was a popular choice this week Players Championship. He almost won the Cognizant Classic two weeks ago before he imploded late to present the trophy to Nico Echavarria. He has five top-20s in 10 appearances at TPC Sawgrass and enjoys golfing in Florida.

But this was not Lowry’s week. That four-putt dropped him on the leaderboard, and he couldn’t get out of that hole on Friday.

Scottie Scheffler AND Rory McIlroy barely made the cut. Ludvig Aberg and Xander Schauffele head the board. Most of the PGA Tour’s big names have a Saturday match, but Lowry tops our list of notables who won’t play the weekend in TPC Sawgrass.

Notable players who missed the cut at The Players Championship

Honorable Mention: Collin Morikawa

Morikawa was one of the pre-tournament favorites and for good reason. He won at Pebble Beach and followed it up with a T7 at Genesis and a runner-up finish at API. But Morikawa arched his back on his second hole Thursday and had to retire. Had he played 36 holes, he would have topped this list. But since it’s all about injuries, he just gets an honorable mention to get us started.

6. Joel Dahmen

What shot: 77-73

Visible because: He has played good golf when he has stepped onto the course. Dahmen missed the cut at the brutally difficult Bay Hill, but posted top-10s at Farmers and Cognizant to start the season. His golf has been solid, but a first-round 77 ended it at TPC Sawgrass.

5. Kurt Kitayama

What shot: 74-75

Visible because: Kitayama came in playing good golf. He backed up a T2 at Riviera with a top-20 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but never got going this week at Sawgrass.

4. Jake Knapp

What shot: 75-72

Visible because: Knapp has played excellent golf to start the year. He went T11-T5-T8-T8-6 in his first five starts of the season, including an impressive showing at the Genesis Invitational. But he was a late WD from last week’s Arnold Palmer and was clearly not on his best stuff this week.

3. Harris English

What shot: 73-77

Visible because: The world number 16 had not missed a cut since last year’s API. English had finished no worse than T28 in six starts this season before this week. The quadruple bogey 8 he made on the 18th hole (his ninth of the day) on Friday marked the end of his tournament.

2. Ben Griffin

What shot: 70-78

Visible because: Griffin was one of the hottest players on the PGA Tour last year. He won two individual events, won the team event at the Zurich Classic, finished second at the Memorial and made the Ryder Cup team. His game has taken off to start the year. His best finish is a T19 at the Sony Open, and he’s missing shots off the tee and approach.

1. Shane Lowry

What shot: 76-73

Visible because: Lowry was three holes from victory two weeks ago at Cognizant and looked set to return to top form. He blew up and has now missed two cuts in a row. Lowry has had success at TPC Sawgrass in the past, but a four-bogey to end his first round put him behind on the eighth ball and he couldn’t recover on Friday.