US Open winner Dustin Johnson misses cut at PGA Championship
McDowell, Garcia, Lowry and Kuchar also fail to make weekend
Friday 29 July 2016 23:00, UK
Dustin Johnson was a high-profile casualty at the halfway stage of the PGA Championship as he finished a forgettable two days at Baltusrol on nine over par.
Johnson was the pre-tournament favourite with most bookmakers after finishing no lower than ninth in six of the last seven major championships, including his breakthrough win at the US Open in June.
But his all-round game disintegrated during a woeful 77 in the first round, and he followed up with a lacklustre 72 which included three bogeys and just one birdie as he slumped into a tie for 142nd in the 156-man field.
The American needed a fast start to revive any hopes of making the weekend but, after two opening pars at 10 and 11, he found the front bunker with his tee shot at the short 12th and failed to save par from 15 feet.
Johnson also bogeyed the next after finding a fairway bunker from the tee, although he lifted his flagging spirits with a nice putt for a rare birdie at the 16th.
The monster hitter failed to take advantage of the par-fives at 17 and 18 and could not better par on either, and a wild drive at the third led to another dropped shot.
He had company on nine over in fellow US Open winner Graeme McDowell, who started day two with a double-bogey at the 10th and carded four further bogeys in a 75.
Sergio Garcia's long wait for a maiden major title goes on after he produced an errant driving display and failed to make a single birdie against four bogeys in a disappointing 74 that left him on five over.
Shane Lowry's hopes of making his Ryder Cup debut suffered another blow as the US Open runner-up missed the cut for the second major running following rounds of 72 and 73.
Matt Kuchar was another surprise early exit, the usually-consistent world No 17 mixing three birdies with five bogeys in a 72 which left him on six over for the two rounds.
