Defending Champs Who Missed the Cut in British Open

The British Open first used a cut after the second round in 1898, and in 1926 a 36-hole cut became standard. Since the cut was introduced, how many defending champions played the following year but failed to make the cut? Not many, although defending champs missing the cut happened more often in recent decades.

Only one defending British Open champ prior to 1990 missed the cut in his title defense, and that was, arguably, the greatest Open Championship player of all: 5-time winner Tom Watson in 1976. That only a single defending champ missed the cut in the years up to 1990 is more remarkable than it first appears because for nearly 20 years the Open Championship used two cuts. From 1968-85, the Open had a double cut — a first cut after 36 holes, a second cut after 54 holes.

These are the British Open winners who returned the following year to defend that title but missed the cut instead:

• Tom Watson, 1976: In 1975, Watson won the first of his eventual five Open championships. And in the 1976 Open, he made the 36-hole cut. But Watson struggled with an 80 in the third round and missed the 54-hole cut.
• Mark Calcavecchia, 1990: In his title defense in 1990, Calcavecchia scored 71-75, missing the cut by three strokes.
• Mark O’Meara, 1999: In poor weather on a very difficult Carnoustie, O'Meara struggled in the first two rounds of his title defense in 1999. He just struggled a bit more than most with an 83 in Round 1. A 74 in Round 2 meant he missed the cut by three strokes.
• Paul Lawrie, 2000: A year after his historic, final-round comeback to win the 1999 British Open, Lawrie missed the cut in the 2000. Lawrie scored 78-75, finishing nine strokes outsite the cutline.
• Ben Curtis, 2004: A shock winner in 2003 (when he was a rookie who barely cracked the Top 400 in the world rankings), Curtis missed the cut in 2004. He scored 75-74, missing the cut by four.
• Todd Hamilton, 2005: Another surprise winner who missed the cut in his title defense. In 2005, Hamilton scored 74-74, finishing three strokes short of the cutline.
• Darren Clarke, 2012: Clarke shot 76-71 as the defending champion in the 2012 Open, missing the cut by four shots.
• Collin Morikawa, 2022: In his 2022 title defense, Morikawa had rounds of 72 and 73. That was one stroke outside the cutline.

Related articles:

• Back-to-back winners in the British Open
• Lowest final-round scores by British Open winners
• Golfers with most Top 5 finishes in British Open

Sources:
The R&A. The Open Media Guide, The Open Championship Records, Scoring Records - General.
The R&A. "Previous Opens," theopen.com, https://www.theopen.com/previous-opens.
Wilco, Daniel. "British Open cut rule explained," PGA.com, October 24, 2019, https://www.pga.com/story/british-open-cut-rule-explained.