DiMarco, Harrington don’t make cut

PINEHURST, N.C. – In his last two majors, Chris DiMarco was just a hair away from winning. In this one, he wasn’t even close to making the cut.

DiMarco, a playoff runner-up at the most recent PGA and Masters and ranked 11th in the world, shot a 12-over-par 82 Friday in the second round of the U.S. Open to join eighth-ranked Padraig Harrington as one of the few top contenders not able to stick around for the weekend.

DiMarco’s score of 153 missed the cut by five strokes, and he did not make himself available for interviews afterward.

At the Open, the cut is the top 60 and ties, plus everyone within 10 strokes of the lead. That was 8 over par this year, and 83 players made it.

Among them was Davis Love III, who stood at 11-over after his first 27 holes and had every reason to believe his four birdies over the final nine holes wouldn’t be enough to save him. Turns out, they did – with a stroke to spare.

Likewise, Mike Weir probably didn’t think his birdie to close things out and finish at 7-over 147 meant much, but it did. The 2003 Masters champion will be around for the final two rounds.

“Whatever it does, it gives me something to build on,” Weir said following his round, hours before the cut line was established. “Knowing you have to hit a good shot and to pull it off shows I’ve been battling. When my game comes around, I’ll be OK.”

Others who extended their stay include two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, who finished at 7-over.

“I’d like to play on the weekend,” he said. “If I can inch toward red numbers, who knows what can happen.”

Peter Jacobsen, the 51-year-old who won the U.S. Senior Open last year, is also staying, just seven strokes off the lead at 145. He made the cut for the 14th time in 16 U.S. Opens, although this was his first Open since 1996.

The 83 making the cut were still 25 short of the record set in 1996.

Others going home include David Duval, Tom Lehman, Len Mattiace, Rich Beem and Ben Curtis.