Some top golfers caught by cut

? See you later, Karrie Webb.

Farewell, Nancy Lopez.

Some of the biggest names in golf were sent packing after the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open on Friday at Prairie Dunes Country Club.

None of the exits were more stunning than that of Webb, the two-time defending champion, or more dramatic that that of Lopez, the Hall of Famer likely playing in her last Open.

Webb was the seventh woman to attempt to win three straight Opens. She also was the seventh to fail.

Like Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam in 1997, Webb didn’t even make the cut in her quest for the trifecta.

“Very disappointing,” said Webb, a five-time major champion from Australia. “I was just thinking on that (18th) green that it’s been almost three years since I missed the cut, so obviously it’s not the best time to miss one.”

Webb had missed only one cut, at the 1999 LPGA Championship, in 26 previous majors. She had made 56 consecutive cuts since then.

A 27-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Webb has one victory and four other top-10 finishes this year, but she’s finished out of the top 10 five times.

“It sounds stupid to think that I really felt like I was swinging it well before yesterday, but I really was,” Webb said. “It just vanished yesterday on the 11th tee.”

Webb started on the 10th hole Thursday and bogeyed 10 and 11. She was only 2-over at the turn, but repeatedly found the Dunes’ infamous rough on the front nine and finished the day at 79, 12 shots off the pace.

After a calm Thursday, winds gusted to 26 mph on Friday when Webb carded a 73 to finish at 152 Â three shots too high to make the cut.

“I’m sure she’s really hurting,” said Hall of Famer Betsy King, an American who failed in her bid for a U.S. Open three-peat in 1991. “I know I was.”

Webb wasn’t the only one struggling on the world’s 17th-ranked course. Playing partner Se Ri Pak, the 1998 champion from Korea, carded a 75 for a 149 total and made the cut without a stroke to spare.

Three other former champions weren’t as lucky. King, England’s Alison Nicholas (1997) and American Patty Sheehan (1992, 1994) all missed the cut.

Webb, however, had nothing but praise for the course that tormented her for two days.

“I watched Se Ri three-putt probably eight times in the last two days, and all of us struggled on the greens,” Webb said. “But I’d love to see (the Open) come back here. I really enjoyed playing here.”

Unlike Lopez, the 27-year-old Webb knows she’ll have other chances.

“I think I’ve got at least 10 U.S. Opens left in me,” she said with a laugh, “so I have got, what, nine more years of exemption, so I can at least get that many together.”

Lopez, a 48-time winner in 25 years on tour, has played a limited schedule the last four years because of injuries and needed a special exemption to play in this Open. She announced earlier this year that this would be her last full season on tour, and she has not made a cut in nine starts.

That didn’t stop fans from turning out to follow the 45-year-old, who hasn’t won since 1997. Lopez  who played with fellow Hall of Famers King and Sheehan  received an ovation at every green, including a loud cheer when she made a par putt to conclude her round on No. 18.

“I knew walking up 18 was going to be tough for me because I won’t be doing that anymore,” said Lopez, who had 10 bogeys in a round of 79 and finished at 160. “But I guess I am so grateful so much to the fans. That made me so emotional.”