The 2018 U.S. Open winner, held previously at Sinek Hills, wasn’t able to participate this time around.
Brooks Koepka struggled with a ten-over score during the first two days and was unable to continue over the weekend.
Koepka entered the tournament facing a hand issue that caused tingling in his left pinky and ring finger, which impacted his grip strength, as he admitted.
This five-time major champion seemed out of sync, finishing the first round with a 73 and following it up with a 77. He bogeyed eight holes during Friday’s round and found it hard to sink putts, particularly in the last nine holes.
During the fourth hole, he sent his drive into the rough, then into a bunker, yet managed to get his ball back onto the green, setting up a par opportunity. However, his 12-foot putt slipped by the right edge, resulting in a bogey.
Koepka’s challenge was evident as he failed to make a birdie in the final stretch.
This miscut ended his impressive streak of 11 consecutive successful cuts at the U.S. Open.
He wasn’t the only prominent player missing out on the weekend; Viktor Hovland, JJ Spawn, Adam Scott, Shane Lowry, and Rickie Fowler also found themselves in the same situation.
Harry Higgs experienced a moment of panic before his early tee time on Thursday, mistakenly grabbing shorts instead of pants and needing to rush around to find a solution on the course.
According to Higgs, an employee from the Darrell Survey had his caddy search for the missing pants, but Higgs jokingly noted they would have been “100 percent” torn if found. Luckily, his wife came to the rescue, delivering his shoes in a timely manner.
“I really appreciate my wife. I called her at 5:30 AM, and she came through,” he remarked, adding he was dressed by 6:15 before his 6:35 tee time.
After two rounds, Higgs was doing well, finishing Friday’s round at two under and the first two days at one under.
“Maybe we should plan something like this more often,” he quipped.
Cam Young wrapped up the first day with a two-over score but managed to squeeze through the cut line. On day two, he played even par, keeping him in the tournament.
After the first nine holes, he didn’t record a bogey until missing a 12-foot par putt on the seventh hole, but quickly bounced back with a birdie on the eighth.
Fellow New Yorker James Nichols, making his U.S. Open debut, stood three over after 36 holes.
