Leaderboard: Rocket Mortgage Classic Round 1

Cameron Smith won the biggest payday in golf, the weather caused all kinds of issue and luck meant more than usual at the Players.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Defending FedExCup and Masters champion Dustin Johnson is the 11th player in the tournament’s history to miss the weekend during their title defense, leaving him with plenty of time to rest up before Sunday’s Green Jacket ceremony. Johnson’s rounds of 74-75 saw him finish at 5-over 149, two shots shy of the cut line at Augusta National, the biggest surprise of the opening two rounds of the 85th Masters. He will return to place the Green Jacket on the winner’s shoulders. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Masters rookie Zalatoris finds himself in Saturday’s final group | Custom gear for the 2021 Masters “The three-putts killed me. You take all the three-putts away, I’m 1-under,” Johnson lamented after needing 64 putts through two rounds. Only four others managed more. “That was kind of the difference. My speed was awful. I just left it short from 10 feet there on the last hole. I just didn’t have a good beat on the speed the last two days.” But Johnson wasn’t alone in terms of big names failing to advance. Rory McIlroy’s woes continued and his run at a career grand slam was once again put on hold. Rounds of 76-74 left him with no chance of contending. Brooks Koepka’s (74-75) return from knee surgery was ultimately unfruitful and Lee Westwood (78-71) couldn’t maintain his recent run of form. “I worked my ass off just to get here, and then to play like this is pretty disappointing,” Koepka said before revealing his right knee held up fine despite undergoing surgery less than a month ago. He couldn’t commit to his next start but said he would definitely take his place at the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in May. “Today it was a lot better actually. Yesterday was the first day walking 18, so you’re obviously a little sore and all that stuff. I don’t feel as sore as I did yesterday. It feels better than I thought it would, so I’m pretty pleased,” he added. “I won’t miss (the PGA), I know that, but tough to say if I’ll play anything before that just for how it feels, how rehab goes and everything. I’d like to practice a little bit more or be actually hitting balls before a tournament. (This week) a lot of it was just making sure I could walk. So the prep wasn’t as good, but it’s nice to know that I can walk 18.” Patrick Cantlay (79-73) and Jason Day (77-76) were also a long way off the pace and last November’s runner up Sungjae Im (77-80) had a much different experience in April. Matthew Wolff was well on his way to missing the cut when he was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.

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After all these years, we’ve gotten it all wrong. Current U.S. Open leader Dustin Johnson isn’t the sport’s greatest simpleton. He’s actually a golfing genius.

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