Although Pebble Beach has yielded low scores in calm conditions, there is enough punishing rough to claim victims, as Poulter found out the hard way at the par-four third, his 12th.
The Englishman's second shot ended up in foot-high fescue grass above the face of a greenside bunker, only 30 feet from the hole and that's when all the trouble began.
Poulter, colourfully attired as ever in pink pants and bright purple sweater, had to take an ungainly almost crab-like stance, his feet far apart and facing the hole, legs bent in different directions.
He took a stab at the ball but his club got caught up in the fescue and did not move the ball.
Poulter then had another crack at it, this time stabbing the ball a couple of feet, and eventually running up an eight -- known as a snowman.
With that he dropped from two over par for the tournament to six over, effectively ensuring he would miss the cut.
Poulter battled on and finished in quite the style, holing a 70-yard wedge shot for birdie at his final hole, but it was all academic by that point as he shot a second consecutive 73 for a four-over 146 total.
Though the 43-year-old Briton has been a vital member of five victorious European Ryder Cup teams, he is still chasing a maiden major title.
Poulter came closest at the 2008 British Open, where he battled it out with Padraig Harrington before finishing second at Royal Birkdale.
Poulter's quadruple-bogey on Friday was not the worst single-hole score of the week.
On Thursday, not-so-great Dane Lucas Bjerregaard ran up an 11 at the par-five 18th, where he yanked two balls into the Pacific Ocean and then pushed a third out-of-bounds right.
Bjerregaard was so disgusted that he hurled his driver in the water. He also missed the cut.
(Reporting by Steve Keating; Writing by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Ken Ferris)
