Phil Mickelson misses Masters cut for second time in three years

As the cut line moved with leader Jordan Spieth’s late bogeys, Phil Mickelson’s spot for the weekend sat 22 feet away.

But Mickelson’s birdie putt on No. 18 only slightly threatened the hole, and the three-time Masters Tournament champion missed the cut for the second time in three years after his worst-ever Masters round of 79. At 7-over for the tournament, Mickelson was out of weekend action by one shot.

Mickelson bemoaned his double bogey on No. 7 and his doubles on Nos. 15 and 16, where he found water.

“This is the worst I managed myself around this golf course,” Mickelson said. “I don’t know what to say. It’s disappointing. I love this tournament so much, and I’ve been playing so well. To come and make some of the mistakes and the doubles and stuff that I made today is very disappointing.”

The top 50 players and ties and those within 10 shots of the lead made the cut. The list of weekend players adjusted as Spieth reached 8-under on the third hole before dropping four strokes to finish 4-under.

Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson was among those to slip in. In danger of missing the Masters cut for the first time in eight starts, Watson was 8-over through 12 before birdies on Nos. 13 and 17 brought him to the cut line of 6-over.

Ten other Masters champions, including Mickelson, weren’t as fortunate.

Zach Johnson, the 2007 champion, was 1-under for the tournament after No. 2. But he had four bogeys before making the turn, then got assessed a two-stroke penalty on No. 13 for grounding his club in a hazard when it touched water on his backswing. The triple bogey dropped him to 9-over. A birdie on No. 15 left him at 8-over for the tournament.

A pair of Masters champions played their final competitive rounds in the tournament Friday: Tom Watson and Ian Woosnam.

Watson, the winner of the green jacket in 1977 and 1981, seemed in good position after shooting 74 on Thursday, but his 6-over on Friday dropped him below the cut line. Woosnam, the 1991 champion, shot 9-over Friday to end what he said was his final competitive round in Augusta at 19-over.

Darren Clarke, playing in the final year of his five-year exemption from his 2011 British Open win, missed the cut by carding four double-bogeys and shooting 16-over for the first two rounds. Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA Championship winner who is in his last year of exemption, made it to the weekend at 3-over.

Like Bradley, Rickie Fowler shot 1-over on Friday. But Fowler missed the cut for the first time in his sixth Masters start. He doomed his chances with an opening-round 80.

“I didn’t play my best. I hit some good shots, made some good swings, but not what I expected to have this week, that’s for sure,” Fowler said.

Like Fowler, Mickelson won’t be back for today’s third round.

“I love everything about the event,” Mickelson said. “I just wish I was a part of it.”