In yet another sign of the times that the sport of golf is in a nearly alarming state of flux, five of the top ten players in the official world golf rankings missed the cut at the 2011 British Open.
Who is included among the "Failed Five," you ask?
Let's begin with world No. 1 Luke Donald, who proved that not all Opens are made equal by following up a win at the 2011 Scottish Open by shooting a one-over 71 on Thursday and a five-over 75 on Friday to miss the cut at Royal St. George's by three strokes.
Lee Westwood, who sits just behind Donald in the rankings at No. 2, fared two strokes better, though finishing four over par at the conclusion of play on Friday still wasn't enough to boost the Englishman past the cut line.
Seventh-ranked Matt Kuchar fared worse than both Donald and Westwood combined, completing the second round of play at an astounding 11 strokes over par in a tie for 132nd, right next to 2003 Open Champion and fellow American Ben Curtis.
Graeme McDowell, ranked ninth in the world, stands out as perhaps the biggest disappointment of the day. The 2010 US Open champion got off to a solid start with a two-under 68 on Thursday before falling flat on Friday with a seven-over 77.
And last, but not least, is 10th ranked Nick Watney, who improved significantly from a 74 in Round One to a 71 in Round Two, though that still wasn't enough to keep him in close enough contention to merit a spot for the weekend.
As for the other five in the world's top 10, third-ranked Martin Kaymer sits in a tie for third at three under (tres wild, anybody?), fourth-ranked Rory McIlroy and fifth-ranked Steve Stricker are among those tied for 19th at even par, sixth-ranked Phil Mickelson is just three strokes back at one under par and Australian Jason Day, the No. 8 golfer in the world, has something of an uphill climb to overcome at one over par thus far.
Samaire Armstrong Selita Ebanks Michael Michele Marisa Tomei Shannyn Sossamon
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