Rose suffered a cruel lip-out with a seven-foot putt at the 17th hole and then went from bad to worse, hardly touching the hole with a four-footer at the last.

He shot rounds of 75 and 73.

The Englishman’s performance was a surprise since he had arrived at the tournament in fine fettle, seemingly poised to make another tilt at the Green Jacket two years after losing a playoff to Sergio Garcia.

Garcia also bowed out early, along with other former winners Englishman Danny Willett (2016) and South African Charl Schwartzel (2011).

Rose, Garcia and Willett, at four-over-par 148, missed by one stroke, while Schwartzel was two shots over the line.

A total of 65 players made the cut, including defending champion Patrick Reed, who sits on one-under-par.

The nine players who made the cut on the number at three over had reason to thank Adam Scott. The Australian got to eight under until three-putting the 16th hole. Had he finished on eight under everyone at three over would have been eliminated.

Instead, Scott finished at seven over to join a halfway tie for the lead with Jason Day, Francesco Molinari, Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen.