Former BYU golfer Mike Weir moved up the leaderboard Friday at the Masters, but the improved play still wasn’t good enough for the Canadian to make the cut at the first major golf championship of the season.
Not even close.
Weir shot a respectable 1-over 73 in the second round and moved from a tie for 86th place after Thursday’s round of 81 and into a tie for 77th after 36 holes of play. He finished at 10-over 154.
At the other end of the leaderboard, defending champion Rory McIlroy put together another outstanding round to take a commanding six-shot lead into the weekend. McIlroy, who spent a summer playing junior golf in Utah when he was a youngster, is at 12 under through 36 holes after Friday’s 65.
Six shots is the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history.
McIlroy has the big lead over former champion Patrick Reed and Sam Burns, who was tied with McIlroy for the lead after the first round.
McIlroy looked unbeatable on the back nine Friday, making birdies on holes 12, 13, 15, 16, 17 and 18 to nearly lap the field. The Irishman chipped in for birdie on No. 17 and then made a 5-footer on 18 for his ninth birdie of the day.
Meanwhile, Weir’s round included three birdies — on holes 2, 9 and 12 — but a double-bogey on the treacherous par-3 4th hole kept him from shooting a sub-par round at Augusta National Golf Club.
Last year, Weir shot 4-over-par 148 at the Masters and missed the cut by only two shots.
He has not made a cut at the Masters since 2020, when he finished tied for 51st. Prior to that finish, which came during the COVID-19 pandemic, Weir’s last made cut came in 2013, when he tied for 28th.
His best finish at the Masters since his breakthrough championship in 2003 came in 2005, when he tied for fifth.