WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS - Phil Mickelson may have made the cut for the first time, but the Old White TPC claimed some big names again, including Kevin Kisner.
Kisner, ranked 24th in the world, shot a 70 Friday to finish at 2-over 142, missing the cut by three shots. He was pretty much done in by hitting only 18 of 36 greens in regulation. By the PGA Tour's "shots gained" formula, he lost four strokes to the field on approach shots.
Si Woo Kim, ranked 31st, also hit the bricks (1 over). Luke Donald, the former top-ranked player in the world who made his first visit here, missed at 4 over.
Among former Greenbrier Classic champions, 2010 winner Stuart Appleby, 2013 titlist Jonas Blixt and 2014 winner Angel Cabrera all are done for the weekend. Appleby finished 147th at 9 over, Cabrera at 4 over and Blixt at 1 over.
The ever-flamboyant John Daly also missed badly at 6 over. Dru Love, formally known as Davis Love IV, lost to his father by 11 strokes, missing at 3 over.
Notables making the cut are 2012 champ Ted Potter Jr. (4 under), 2011 champ Scott Stallings (4 under), world No. 21 Patrick Reed (5 under), world's No. 1 amateur Joaquin Niemann (4 under), world No. 36 Bill Haas (2 under), No. 38 Jimmy Walker (2 under), 2016 U.S. Amateur champion Curtis Luck (2 under) and Monday qualifier Daniel Obremski (1 under).
Four players have withdrawn: Stevan Alker, Tri-State PGA section champ Kevin Shields, Nicholas Lindheim and Grayson Murray. Murray, the Web.com Tour money leader in 2016, left Thursday because of illness.
Brendon de Jonge, the only person to make the cut in the first six Classics, missed his seventh by a single stroke. On the 613-yard 17th hole, he missed a par putt from 4 feet to sink his hopes. Johnson Wagner (3 over), the other half of the Virginia Tech tandem, also went home.
The days, months and years since Potter's win at the 2012 Greenbrier Classic haven't always been kind, especially professionally, but Potter finds himself playing on the weekend in a PGA Tour event for the first time this year right in the location of his greatest triumph.
Potter followed up an opening-round 2-under-par 68 with another one on Friday and stands at 4 under in a tie for 22nd place heading into Saturday's third round.
A major ankle injury and a couple of surgeries sidelined him for nearly two years beginning in 2014, and it has been a struggle since. This will be the first time Potter has made a cut in a tour event since the 2014 Greenbrier Classic, where he finished tied for 26th.
"I got off to a good start with a couple of birdies right off the bat. It was a solid day," Potter said. "I'm just happy to be here and I'm looking forward to the weekend."
Potter has played in only one other Tour event this season, missing the cut at the U.S. Open.
But the Web.com Tour is a different story, as Potter has competed in 13 events and sits fourth on the money list. The top 25 will earn a PGA Tour card next year, and Potter is quickly closing on it.
"I've been playing well on the Web.com Tour this season and it looks like I'll have my PGA Tour card back next year," Potter said. "I've just been working hard and it's been coming around."
Potter looks forward to playing several tour events next season, but the Greenbrier Classic is and has been a special place for him. If he's able to put together two more solid rounds, it would be just another chapter of his success in White Sulphur Springs.
"It's just great to be back here after a few years and after what happened last year here," Potter said. "I'm glad everything looks great and everything is going well.
"I love this place. I play well here in the three years I've played here now. The course is really good; the greens are nice and firm."
Conditions were slightly tougher, despite players allowed again to lift, clean and replace balls on the fairway. The field averaged 70.020 strokes, higher than the 2015 second-round average of 69.792.
After playing 240 yards shorter than the 7,286-yard scorecard distance Thursday, the course played at 7,175 yards Friday. The 18th hole was shortened from 177 to 142 yards. The 2.948 average was the 12th hardest.
The par-5 12th was easiest, playing 0.417 strokes below par. The par-3 eighth was the hardest again, averaging 3.252 and yielding only nine birdies.
n Leader Sebastian Munoz had one of the longest drives of the day, 371 yards on the 17th. The problem was that was aided by two cart paths, both well to the left of the fairway. He hit over a tree and went on to make par.
n Smylie Kaufman has gone 36 holes without a three-putt, which isn't out of the ordinary. This is: He has avoided a three-putt in 240 consecutive holes, the longest streak on the Tour.
n The Classic's winner receives 34 points for the world rankings, the lowest of the five tournaments coming in the Fourth of July week. The first two Classics, held in late July, were worth 32.