Els misses the cut at The Masters
April 6th, 2007
Augusta, GA (Sports Network) - Ernie Els missed the cut at the Masters on Friday and in the process, snapped two impressive streaks.
He held the current PGA Tour mark for consecutive cuts made with 46. Els assumed the reign when Tiger Woods missed the cut at the 2005 Byron Nelson after Woods had established the PGA Tour record of 142.
On Friday, Els missed his first cut in a major championship since the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah. Els, a three-time major winner, missed the cut there by two strokes.
The Big Easy opened the Masters on Thursday with a six-over-par 78, so he knew he needed a good round on Friday to make the weekend. Els started out fine with a birdie at the first, but back-to-back bogeys at six and seven derailed the South African.
Els recorded another pair bogeys, this time at 12 and 13. He soared up to nine-over par for the championship and that looked like it would be one too high.
At the Masters, players within 10 shots of the lead advance to the weekend, and Brett Wetterich and Tim Clark were in the clubhouse at two-under-par 142.
Els, whose last missed cut on tour came at the 2004 Bay Hill Invitational, needed to make something happen late and almost did at the 17th. He rolled in a 35-foot par save that meant he would need a birdie at the par-four closing hole.
It was not meant to be for Els. His second landed in a greenside bunker and when his blast did not roll into the cup, he would be packing his bags. Before Els left, he missed his six-foot par putt to actually shoot a four-over 76 and finish two rounds at 10-over-par 154.
Els can start a new consecutive streaks made mark at majors in June at a familiar venue. This year's U.S. Open is at Oakmont, where Els won his first major championship in 1994.
Jim Furyk now owns the longest streak of consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour with 20. He shot a one-under 71 on Friday at Augusta National and finished two rounds at plus-two.