The first & second rounds of the 2025 Sony Open have been completed! The 2nd PGA Tour event of the season has seen some major surprises at the top of the leaderboard as we head into the penultimate day of the event. The likes of Patrick Fishburn, Denny McCarthy, and Kensei Hirata have risen to the top aiming to win the first PGAT event of their career. The likes of Eric Cole and Paul Peterson are also competing with them. It’s interesting to know that neither of the top 5 players has a single PGAT Tour win to their name. But they are not the ones we’re here to talk about.

Our eyes are focused on the surprising exits that we witnessed in the event after round 2. Let’s take a look at 5 accomplished players who couldn’t make the cut for the weekend leg of the 2025 Sony Open.

Billy Horschel

The 38-year-old pro golfer was on the run of his life in 2024. On paper, he was only able to capture 1 title, the 2024 Corales Puntacana Championship. However, when you go through the finer details, you will realize that Billy Horschel came pretty close to winning a lot more throughout the year. His next best performance was definitely at The Open Championship in July 2024 where he was nearly able to overcome Xander Schauffele to bag his 1st major win. So watching him exit after the 2nd round of the 2025 Sony Open with a far less competitive field is a surprise for everyone in the golf community. Horschel finished with a score of 2-under par 138 after 3 bogeys and 1 double bogey in the first 36 holes.

Corey Conners

Corey Conners participated in 23 events in 2024. He made the cut through all 23 of them. Conners finished the 2024 season with 4 top-10 finishes, showing consistency and resistance throughout the year. In fact, as per reports, Corey Conners had made the cut in the last 32 events he has been a part of. The last time he missed the weekend action was at the 2023 US Open as confirmed by Bob Weeks on their X account. Even at the start of the new season in 2025, the Canadian golfer got a T5 finish at The Sentry. It was evident that he was still in great form coming into the Sony Open. Despite getting an eagle on the 12th hole of the 2nd round, he had managed 8 bogeys in the first 2 days. He finished with a score of 1-under par 139 and exited the event.

Austin Eckroat

2024 was an incredible season for Austin Eckroat. The 25-year-old managed to win the World Wide Technology Championship and the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches to win back his place on the Tour for the 2025 season. Even during The Sentry last weekend, Eckroat finished at T15 on Sunday to confirm that he was a star to watch out for this season. So it comes as a big surprise that he was eliminated from the 2025 Sony Open just after the 2nd round. Eckroat too ended with a score of 2-under par 138 with 4 bogeys and 1 double bogey in the first couple of rounds. He will not be competing for the $8.7 pursue this weekend.

Byeong Hun An

This time around last year, Byeong Hun An was incredibly close to winning the Sony Open as he finished at T2 after dragging the event into playoffs. He had managed a score of -17 in the 72 holes before getting beaten by the eventual winner. However, the Korean national could not replicate his form as he failed to make it big this time around. In the 36 holes An played this year, he managed only -2. That too was because of his eagle in the final hole of round 2. Byeong Hun An must be disappointed with his exit as he would have been hoping to capture the title in 2025 after coming so close to winning it in 2024.

Luke Clanton

Luke Clanton entered 2024 as a rookie trying to make it big. He only qualified for 8 events throughout the season but managed to impress everyone by making 7 cuts. He also had 4 top-10 finishes, 2 of which were as runner-ups. While Clanton was not qualified to earn FedEx Cup points, he had still left a mark on the course to gain an invitation back to the 2025 season of PGAT. However, the 21-year-old’s 1st show of the season wasn’t as impressive as his performances last year. Clanton managed to score 4 bogeys in 2 days to end with a score of 1-under par 139 to exit from the 2025 Sony Open after round 2.

These were some of the biggest names to exit the 2025 Sony Open after just 2 rounds of play. There are a few who may have also surprised the fans like The Sentry 2025 winner Chris Kirk and the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open champion J.T. Poston. They would definitely make it to the extended list of surprising candidates.

The 3rd round is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET. You can watch all the action live on the Golf Channel.