RAINING BIRDIES FOR KOKRAK

Jason Kokrak was outside the cutline when he felt the first sprinkles of rain prior to his second shot at the par-4 15th. He hit it to 18 feet. Then the heavy stuff came down. Immediately.

“By the time I got to 15 green, I was drenched,” Kokrak said.

He rolled in the birdie putt in the pouring rain. At the par-3 16th, he used a 4-iron off the tee, having to hold it up against the wind – not really his forte, but he found the fringe and rolled in a 15-footer for another birdie. “A crazy little shot,” he said. “I think I got away with a little bit of water on the ball.”

At the par-4 17th, his approach shot finished 10 feet from the pin. His third straight birdie. And just like that, Kokrak was inside the cutline, his 1-under 70 leaving him at 1 under for the tournament and tied for 26th. A pretty salty fight in the wet conditions as he made six birdies in his last 11 holes.

“Didn’t really need the rain to come up but I guess it caused me to focus a little bit more,” said the Smash GC veteran. “… Every board everywhere had the projected cut line at +1 and I’m cruising around +3. Told myself I better get my head out of my you-know-what – and I did.”

Kokrak’s best finish in his first 23 major starts is a T14 at the 2022 Masters. His best Open result is a T19 in 2018. He now has a chance to improve on both levels.

“Glad the way I fought back today,” he said. “Glad to make the cut. We’ll see what happens this weekend.”

McKIBBIN ANNOYED

Tom McKibbin, the Northern Irishmen and a member at Royal Portrush, had high hopes entering the week but missed the cut at 3 over after his 2-over 73 on Friday.

“A little big annoyed. A little bit pissed off,” said the 22-year-old member of Legion XIII. “… Overall, I thought I played quite nicely. Just a few silly mistakes.”

MICKELSON AMONG 11 LIV GOLF PLAYERS TO MAKE CUT

Nineteen LIV Golf players were in the field when The Open Championship began on Thursday and 11 made the cut, including major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson , Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Henrik Stenson.

Mickelson, who won The Open in 2013 at Muirfield, sits at even par through 36 holes and is tied for 34th. The HyFlyers GCcaptain is playing in his 31st Open Championship.

Here are the LIV Golf players who made the cut and those who will miss the weekend.