Guthrie’s run at cutline gets derailed by wayward drive on critical par-5

DETROIT — Chasing the cutline as headed to the second nine Friday in the second round of the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, Luke Guthrie seemed poised to make a run.

He stuck his approach on the par-4 second hole within two feet of the cup and made the birdie putt. He followed by hitting his second shot on the par-4 third hole to within 5 feet. That birdie putt didn’t drop, but Guthrie was trending toward a surge still needing to make up two strokes.

The tee shot on the par-5 fourth hole ended everything.

Guthrie hit his drive out of bounds to the right of the fairway, took a penalty stroke and teed off again, hitting this shot into the left rough. It resulted in a triple bogey that knocked him to the back of the pack and forced the Quincy native to miss the cut.

Guthrie posted a 4-over 76, finishing at 3-over 147 and tied for 134th.

Having earned his spot in the field through a Monday qualifier, Guthrie shot a 1-under 71 in the opening round and began Friday two strokes off the cutline. He suffered a bogey on the par-4 10th — his opening hole — but followed it with nine consecutive pars.

His problems finding the fairway loomed large. Guthrie hit just 13 of 26 fairways over the two rounds, and he made just 22 of 36 greens in regulation.