First cut may not be quite so deep

After meeting this week at Riviera Country Club, the Player Advisory Council has recommended that the PGA Tour’s current cut policy be scrapped and a new one, which includes a second cut after 54 holes, be implemented.

The recommendation is to revert to a 36-hole cut of top 70 and ties, as it had been on the tour since 1969, but to make an additional cut to top 70 after three rounds when the number of players making the first cut exceeds 78.

The current cut rule, put into play for this season, calls for no more than 78 players to advance to the third round. If more than 78 players make the cut, some are sent home with last-place money to keep the field size down.

“We were just trying to find a good compromise and I think we have,” said Steve Flesch, a member of the 16-player PAC. “I think everybody realized that when they passed that, they didn’t realize what kind of impact it would have.”

Many players have voiced opposition because the new policy prevents players from being able to improve their positions -- and money -- if they are sent home. That would again be the case for those sent home after 54 holes, but Flesch said it would be less of an issue.

“If you’re still down near the bottom after Saturday and you need to shoot 62 or 63 or 64 just to move into the middle of the pack, then most of those guys would just as soon get out of there,” he said.

The new policy must be adopted by the Policy Board, which meets Feb. 25 at the Honda Classic. If it passes, it could be in play as soon as March 6 at the PODS Championship.

Any change in cut rules could come too late for several players in the Northern Trust Open.

With six players still on the course when play ended Friday, 79 were inside the cut line of three over par. Of the six who didn’t finish, John Merrick and Mark Turnesa were three over with two holes to play, Brad Adamonis was two over with two to play and Cody Freeman was one over with two to play.

Should one of those players fall to four over, 78 players will play the weekend. If none fall to four over, 79 players would make the cut, and the current cut rule would go into effect, sending home the 10 players at three over and leaving only 69 to play the weekend.

And should Merrick or Turnesa finish at two over, exactly 70 players would be at two over, and those at three over would miss the cut.

J.B Holmes drew the unlucky number and will face Tiger Woods in the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship on Wednesday in Arizona. It was news to him.

“I don’t even know who I’m playing,” he said Friday after shooting five-under 66 in the second round.

Told it was Woods, Holmes, who has never been paired with Woods in a competitive round, said he looked forward to the challenge.

“It’s going to be nice to be able to compare your game and get to see it up close instead of on TV,” he said.

Asked if he would try to learn anything from Woods, Holmes laughed and said, “He’s probably not going to be giving me any pointers during the match.”

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peter.yoon@latimes.com