Dustin Johnson misses 2021 Masters cut five months after winning green jacket

Defending champion Dustin Johnson bogeyed three of his final four holes Friday and stunningly missed the cut in the 85th Masters.

Johnson, a Columbia native who grew up in Irmo, shattered Masters records in winning the 2020 tourney, moved from its usual April date to November due to the coronavirus outbreak. But he did that on a much softer course than the ones the players encountered this week.

After an opening round 2-over-par 74 Thursday that included a double-bogey on the final hole, Johnson remained at 2-over for the tournament Friday after making birdie on the 12th hole. With two par-5s ahead that often yield birdies, he looked like a lock to advance to the weekend.

But he only made par on 13, perhaps a harbinger for things to come. Still at 2-over with the cut line at 3-over after a par at 15, Johnson lashed a booming drive on 15. But his second shot found the pond that guards the green. After a penalty stroke, he wedged on a two-putted for bogey.

He parred 16, then bogeyed 17 and 18. On 17, he drove poorly, but he found the green with an excellent second shot before three-putting from about 60 feet. He drove into a bunker on 18, blasted out short and needed to make the chip for birdie to survive for the weekend. Instead, his chip missed and he two-putted for another bogey.

Johnson, ranked No. 1 in the world coming into the tournament, posted a 3-over 75 on Friday and had a two-day total of 5-over 149. Justin Rose leads at 7-under-par 137.

“Mostly just the putter,” Johnson said afterward. “Six three-putts in two rounds. You just can’t do that. I obviously didn’t drive it great, but I drove it good enough. ... The three-putts killed me. You take away the three-putts and I’m 1-under.

“My speed (on the greens) was just awful. I just left it short from 10 feet on the last hole.”

Starting with the 2016 tournament, Johnson’s Masters’ finishes had been T6, T4, T-10, T-2 and 1 with a withdrawal for a back injury in 2017. Prior to his opening 74, he had posted 11 consecutive sub-par scores in the Masters.

Who missed the Masters cut?

In addition to Johnson, others missing the cut, which fell at 3-over 147, included Matt Kuchar, Sergio Garcia, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy.

Watch the Masters live: What time, what channel

▪ Saturday: 3-7 p.m., CBS

▪ Sunday: 2-7 p.m., CBS

Masters.com and the ESPN app also will stream the ESPN/CBS coverage along with channels devoted to featured groups, Holes 4, 5 and 6, Amen Corner and Holes 15 and 16. That coverage will begin at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday and Friday and 10:15 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Masters leaderboard

Through Friday’s second round at Augusta National Golf Club

Justin Rose——65-72—137

Will Zalatoris——70-68—138

Brian Harman——69-69—138

Marc Leishman——72-67—139

Jordan Spieth——71-68—139

Bernd Wiesberger——74-66—140

Tony Finau——74-66—140

Justin Thomas——73-67—140

Si Woo Kim——71-69—140

Cameron Champ——72-68—140

Hideki Matsuyama——69-71—140

Xander Schauffele——72-69—141

Ryan Palmer——74-68—142

Cameron Smith——74-68—142

Collin Morikawa——73-69—142

Corey Conners——73-69—142

Bryson DeChambeau——76-67—143

Matt Jones——74-69—143

Stewart Cink——74-69—143

Viktor Hovland——73-70—143

Mackenzie Hughes——72-72—144

Robert MacIntyre——74-70—144

Shane Lowry——71-73—144

Tommy Fleetwood——74-70—144

Matt Fitzpatrick——74-70—144

Michael Thompson——72-72—144

Henrik Stenson——73-71—144

Brendon Todd——73-71—144

Abraham Ancer——75-69—144

Bubba Watson——74-70—144

Jon Rahm——72-72—144

Martin Laird——74-71—145

Kevin Na——75-70—145

Gary Woodland——73-72—145

Tyrrell Hatton——71-74—145

Scottie Scheffler——73-72—145

Charl Schwartzel——74-71—145

Harris English——74-71—145

Patrick Reed——70-75—145

Jose Maria Olazabal——75-71—146

Matt Wallace——74-72—146

Louis Oosthuizen——76-70—146

Jim Herman——76-70—146

Joaquin Niemann——75-71—146

Webb Simpson——70-76—146

Christiaan Bezuidenhout——70-76—146

Jason Kokrak——71-76—147

Francesco Molinari——74-73—147

Billy Horschel——76-71—147

Phil Mickelson——75-72—147

Adam Scott——74-73—147

Sebastian Munoz——74-73—147

Ian Poulter——74-73—147

Paul Casey——73-74—147

The following players missed the cut

Jimmy Walker——75-73—148

Matt Kuchar——78-70—148

Max Homa——74-74—148

Sergio Garcia——76-72—148

Daniel Berger——75-73—148

Mike Weir——78-71—149

Lanto Griffin——76-73—149

Danny Willett——76-73—149

Kevin Kisner——72-77—149

Brooks Koepka——74-75—149

Dustin Johnson——74-75—149

Lee Westwood——78-71—149

C.T. Pan——79-71—150

Dylan Frittelli——76-74—150

Robert Streb——75-75—150

Rory McIlroy——76-74—150

Victor Perez——78-73—151

Zach Johnson——77-74—151

Bernhard Langer——74-77—151

Brian Gay——78-74—152

Charles Osborne——76-76—152

Patrick Cantlay——79-73—152

Carlos Ortiz——82-71—153

Ian Woosnam——76-77—153

Jason Day——77-76—153

Joe Long——82-72—154

Hudson Swafford——73-83—156

Sandy Lyle——81-75—156

Fred Couples——79-78—157

Sungjae Im——77-80—157

Vijay Singh——79-80—159

Tyler Strafaci——80-81—161

Larry Mize——84-79—163

Matthew Wolff——76-DQ

This story was originally published April 9, 2021 at 6:53 PM.