Players Championship projected cut: How they determine the cut at TPC Sawgrass

Jordan Spieth made a clutch putt from 6 feet, 6 inches to close his second round on Friday at the Players Championship. Spieth, who started on the back nine, rolled in his bogey putt on the 9th to shoot 74.

While it wasn’t a round he’ll be particularly pleased with, draining that putt and getting in at even par through 36 holes might have been exactly what he needed to make the weekend at TPC Sawgrass.

The top 65 and ties make the cut at the Players Championship, which has changed since the Tour’s new rule put into place in the 2019-20 season. The Players, which was canceled after one round last year, never had the opportunity to use the new cut rule, which was previously the top 70 and ties.

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As of 1 p.m. ET on Friday, with the morning wave finishing up and the afternoon wave teeing off, the projected cut is even par, although it could sneak to one over — which is why it was crucial for Spieth to make that bogey save on his last hole. (One caveat, however, is that due to daylight and the ability for everyone to finish their rounds on Saturday, the cut might not be official until Saturday morning when the second round is complete.)

Sergio Garcia took the first-round lead with a seven-under 65 and started his second round at 1 p.m. Denny McCarthy, Brian Harman and Bryson DeChambeau are all in at six under through 36 holes.

Other notable players who are around the cut line with afternoon tee times, as of this writing: Phil Mickelson (one under), Justin Thomas (one under), Viktor Hovland (even), Max Homa (one over), Patrick Cantlay (two over) and Xander Schauffele (four over).

Rickie Fowler (five over), Tony Finau (six over) and Rory McIlroy (seven over) also have lots of work to do in their afternoon rounds to stick around for the final 36 holes. You can follow all of the second-round action here.