Posted by Jason Sobel
Todd Hamilton, the Open champion in 2004, made eagle on the 16th hole Friday, then sweated out consecutive pars to make the cut on the number. Thomas Bjorn, who left his most prolific Claret Jug dreams in a bunker at Royal St. Georges one year earlier, similarly parred out to reach the weekend. And John Senden, playing in his second career Open one week after winning his first career PGA Tour event at the John Deere Classic, finished with three straight birdies to do likewise.
Other players, of course, weren't quite as lucky. And the list is almost as prestigious as the one that litters the top of the leaderboard entering the final 36 holes. Let's go through the list of some big-name guys who were packing the trunk on Friday evening.
There were former British Open champions. Seve Ballesteros (1979, '84, '88), Nick Faldo (1987, '90, '92), John Daly (1995), Tom Lehman (1996), Paul Lawrie (1999) and Ben Curtis (2003) will all head for home secure in the notion that at least they get to try again next year.
It wasn't just the guys with their names on the Claret Jug who got bounced. A quartet who have come close were far away this time around. Former runner-up finishers who missed the cut included Bernhard Langer (1981), Stuart Appleby (2002), Vijay Singh (2003) and Colin Montgomerie (2005).
Europe is still seeking its first major champion of this decade, as some of the continent's top candidates failed to contend this week. In addition to Monty and Langer, David Howell, Ian Poulter and Padraig Harrington each finished with disappointing results as well.
Some top Americans were hardly exempt from such developments as well. Count Fred Couples, Davis Love III and Kenny Perry among those searching for early flights home.
And then there's the saddest tale of the week. Darren Clarke shot a second-round 82, one day after reporting that he would temporarily retire to be with his wife Heather, who is battling cancer. Surely, missing the cut was the least of Clarke's worries this week, and it puts everyone else's discouraging results into perspective.
