The Bear Trap at PGA National doesn’t care about reputations. One of the Tour’s hardest stretches has kept stars from winning for years, and this week it took five more unexpected golfers on the wrong side of the Cognizant Classic 2026 cut line.

Michael Thornbjorsen

Thorbjornsen came in ranked inside the top 50 in the world, off the back of a T18 at Torrey Pines and a scorching opening 66 at TPC Scottsdale. And the same kind of performance was expected here. It showed in R1, though. Where he went out in 36 on the back nine, playing steady, controlled golf on one of the toughest layouts on Tour. Overall, he made 1 over par. Then R2 came, and he made 71, failing to meet the par cutline.

Watching him miss the cut at a non-signature event where the field is genuinely beatable is a real setback for a guy many tipped to win this week outright.

Luke Clanton

If there was one player built for this tournament, it was Luke Clanton. He grew up in South Florida, played college golf at Florida State, and earned his PGA Tour card at this very tournament in 2025, finishing T18. He came back this week desperate for a result after missing cuts at the Sony Open & Torrey Pines and withdrawing from the AmEx because of an illness.

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In R1, Clanton went out in a brilliant 33 on the front but fell apart on the back, carding a 40 to finish at 73, two over par. R2 had other ideas. A 70 brought him back to -1 for the round, but the damage was done. A 36-hole total of 143, finishing at +1 overall, and home he went. It was enough to miss the cut in what was supposed to be his comfort zone.

Gary Woodland

Few stories in modern golf hit harder than that of Gary Woodland. Doctors found a brain lesion in 2023, and then he had surgery in September that year. He came back in 2025 and nearly won the Houston Open, firing a closing 62 to share second alongside Scottie Scheffler. He was given the PGA Tour Courage Award at this very tournament in February 2025.

The Cognizant Classic 2026 was meant to be his comeback story, but it wasn’t.

Round 1 was a rocky start for Woodland. He struggled on the front nine and shot 38 with a double bogey at hole 9, doing the most damage. The back nine was where he found his game; back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 gave him confidence. He finished R1 at 72, one over par, hanging in there.

In R2, he played the front nine at even par, turned at 36, and kept it clean through the middle of the back nine. Then a bogey at 17 followed by a double bogey at 18 closed the door. Another 72, a 36-hole total of 144, finishing at +2 overall. That is how he missed his cut.

Neal Shipley

Shipley’s resume reads like that of someone made for this Tour. Low amateur at both the 2024 Masters and the 2024 U.S. Open, with two wins on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025. And in February 2026, he made a hole-in-one on his TGL debut for Bay Golf Club, the kind of moment that cements a reputation.

R1 at the PGA National told a different story. Shipley opened with a birdie-bogey exchange early but steadied himself through the middle, carding birdies at holes 3 and 8 to close his front nine at 34. The back nine gave it all back, though. A 36 on the inward half left him at 70, one under for the day and seemingly in decent shape.

Then it was R2, which offered no escape. He opened with a birdie at 1 but bogeyed his way through the middle of the round, unable to string consecutive pars together. A 35 on the closing stretch wasn’t enough to save the weekend. It was another 74, a 36-hole total of 144, and a weekend flight home.

Blades Brown

Blades Brown was another name that was surprising to fall under the missed cut section. He was exceptional at American Express in January 2026. There he shot a historic 60, the youngest player ever to card that score on the PGA Tour, and spent Sunday in the final group with Scottie Scheffler. He became the youngest player to co-lead after any round in modern PGA Tour history.

At the Cognizant Classic 2026, he was on a sponsor exemption. Brown opened steadily with a 36 on the back nine but fell apart on his closing nine, carding a 39 on holes 1 through 9 to finish with a 75.

R2, though, kept him in the fight. He battled to a 72, but a costly double-bogey seven on the par-5 18th ended the push. A 147 (+5) total meant an early exit. The Bear Trap claimed its youngest victim of the week.

With these names out of the field, who are you looking forward to winning the $9.6 million event?