Merrick birdies two of his last three holes to affect the cut line

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John Merrick stuck an 8-iron to 13 feet on the final hole, then made the putt to shoot 72.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Bryce Molder had just finished saying he hoped John Merrick make a nice par on the 18th hole in Round 2 of THE PLAYERS.

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Nothing against a birdie, but well, yes there was. It would send 15 players -- including Molder -- home for the weekend.

Not 10 minutes later, Molder walked back to the clubhouse to pack.

Merrick, who hadn't made anything outside three feet all day, had stuck an 8-iron approach to 13 feet, 4 inches and -- you guessed it -- rolled in the putt. Dead center. Perfect speed.

Fifteen players at 1 under gone. Merrick's day -- which started with a 38 on the front nine -- ended with a 70 as he settled in at 2 under par.

A total of 70 players made the cut at 2 under.

Gone at 1 under? Defending champion Henrik Stenson, Vijay Singh, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, Stewart Cink, David Toms, Camilo Villegas, Angel Cabrera and Molder to name a few.

"I had no idea that's the way it was,'' Merrick said. And, yes, he's been on the other side of it. Many times.

Merrick resurrected his day with a great finish. He birdied 16 to get to the first potential cut line, then made the 12 footer at 18.

Other notable folks headed home include Jay Haas and Geoff Ogilvy (144); last week's winner Rory McIlroy, three-time major champ Padraig Harrington, and FedExCup leader Ernie Els (145), Rickie Fowler and Ricky Barnes (147).

Ironically, a number of those 1 unders scrambled just to give themselves a chance to make the cut.

Casey had to get it up and down at the ninth hole and did -- rolling in a 6 footer for birdie. Stenson left two huge putts a roll short at 10 and 12, then birdied 16 and 17 to get to 1 under.

Molder birdied 16 and had a 12 footer at 18 to get to 2 under. He rolled it past and made it coming back for par.

And Merrick? He might be off a few Christmas card lists, but he was all smiles.

"It was a great putt to finish on,'' he said.