While defending champion Phil Mickelson shot 72 for a 142 total, Martin Kaymer, the PGA champion and world's No. 1 ranked player, as well as two of the three other major winners last year - Graeme McDowell (U.S. Open) and Louis Oosthuizen (British) - all finished on the wrong side of the cut line at 145.
Not Els. He followed an eagle at the par-5 13th with consecutive birdies for a back-nine 34 and a round of 70 Friday that landed him right on the line.
Fellow South African and major winner Retief Goosen wasn't as fortunate, despite a promising start. He started the tournament by knocking his approach at No. 1 into the hole for an eagle, but shot 78 in the second round for a 148 total.
Other fellow South Africans to exit include Rory Sabbatini, and Tim Clarke, who was suffering from an elbow injury.
Scoreboard:
134 - Rory McIlroy (NIR) 65-69
136 - Jason Day (AUS) 72-64
137 - K.J. Choi (KOR) 67-70, Tiger Woods (USA) 71-66
138 - Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 69-69, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 65-73
139 - Yang Yong-Eun (KOR) 67-72, Ricky Barnes (USA) 68-71, Fred Couples (USA) 71-68, Rickie Fowler (USA) 70-69, Lee Westwood (ENG) 72-69
140 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 69-71, Luke Donald (ENG) 72-68, Jim Furyk (USA) 72-68, Ross Fisher (ENG) 69-71, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 69-71, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 69-71
141 - Angel Cabrera (ARG) 71-70, David Toms (USA) 72-69
142 - Trevor Immelman (RSA) 69-73, Steve Stricker (USA) 72-70, Paul Casey (ENG) 70-72, Phil Mickelson (USA) 70-72, Gary Woodland (USA) 69-73, Dustin Johnson (USA) 74-68, Adam Scott (AUS) 72-70, Bo Van Pelt (USA) 73-69, Ryo Ishikawa (JPN) 71-71, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 72-70
143 - Charley Hoffman (USA) 74-69, Ryan Moore (USA) 70-73, Ian Poulter 74-69, Alexander Cejka (GER) 72-71, Ryan Palmer (USA) 71-72, Martin Laird (SCO) 74-69, Matt Kuchar (USA) 68-75
144 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 71-73, Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 74-70, Bubba Watson (USA) 73-71, Justin Rose (GBR) 73-71, Nick Watney (USA) 72-72, Bill Haas (USA) 74-70
145 - Kim Kyung-Tae (KOR) 70-75, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 72-73, Steve Marino (USA) 74-71, Camilo Villegas (COL) 70-75, Jeff Overton (USA) 73-72, Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 75-70, Ernie Els (RSA) 75-70
Failed to make the cut
146 - Lucas Glover (USA) 75-71, Zach Johnson (USA) 73-73, Anthony Kim (USA) 73-73, Stuart Cink (USA) 71-75, Sean O'Hair (USA) 70-76, Tim Clark (RSA) 73-73, Hunter Mahan (USA) 75-71, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 75-71, Robert Allenby (AUS) 75-71
147 - Stuart Appleby (AUS) 75-72, Jerry Kelly (USA) 74-73. Kevin Na (USA) 73-74, Mark Wilson (USA) 76-71, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 74-73
148 - D.A. Points (USA) 72-76, Ben Crane (USA) 73-75, Peter Hanson (SWE) 72-76, Lion Kim (USA) 76-72. Jason Bohn (USA) 73-75, Yuta Ikeda (JPN) 74-74, Jhonattan Vegas (VEN) 72-76, David Chung (USA) 72-76, Heath Slocum (USA) 72-76, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 75-73, Retief Goosen (RSA) 70-78
149 - Kevin Streelman (USA) 75-74, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 75-74, Peter Uihlen (USA) 72-77, Anders Hansen (DEN) 72-77, Gregory Havret (FRA) 70-79, Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN) 70-79, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 77-72
150 - Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP) 73-77, Mark O'Meara (USA) 77-73, Larry Mize (USA) 73-77, Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 74-76, Jin Jeong (KOR) 73-77, Martin Kaymer (GER) 78-72
151 - Craig Stadler (USA) 80-71, Tom Watson (USA) 79-72, Jonathan Byrd (USA) 73-78, Arjun Atwal (IND) 80-71
152 - Nathan Smith (USA) 75-77, Davis Love (USA) 75-77
153 - Sandy Lyle (SCO) 73-80
154 - Vijay Singh (FIJ) 76-78
155 - Ian Woosnam (WAL) 78-77, Ben Crenshaw (USA) 78-77, Mike Weir (CAN) 76-79
157 - Henrik Stenson (SWE) 83-74