The bogey on the final hole didn’t do much for his mood, nor did the two double bogeys he made earlier in the round. But Xander Schauffele could take some positives from his time at the Bay Hill Club on Friday, not the least of which is the fact that he managed to qualify for the weekend.
That is something almost taken for granted with Schauffele, who has not missed a 36-hole cut on the PGA Tour since the 2022 Masters.
With a one-under-par 71 in the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Schauffele ran his Tour-leading cut streak to 58 in a row—the most of any player since Tiger Woods set the record with 142 straight from 1998 to 2005.
“It’s definitely a cool thing,” said Schauffele, who is competing for just the second time this year after taking two months off to deal with a rib injury. “I try really hard to not quit. Even today going double [bogey], double [bogey] sitting in a really nice spot, it was an easy time to get frustrated.
He is 12 shots behind leader Shane Lowry, who shot 67 on Friday and is eight under par through two rounds.
“But I said earlier in the week I'm going to have to go to a special place to play decent golf, and I had to dig deep,” Schauffele said. “So it was good practice on that front. Austin (Kaiser, his caddie) and I are proud of our cut streak, no doubt. Is it what we think about? No. But usually when you focus on winning you make a lot of cuts and end up somewhere in between.”
Kaiser joked afterward that Schauffele only has about four years to go to catch Woods, which isn’t far off.
At 58 in a row, he’s already sixth all-time behind Woods, Byron Nelson (113), Jack Nicklaus (105), Hale Irwin (86) and Dow Finsterwald (72). Tom Kite is the last player before Woods and Schauffele to get to 50 in a row when he made 53 straight in the early 1980s.
Scottie Scheffler made his 48th in a row at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
After an opening-round 77 that saw him make five straight bogeys at one point, Schauffele had seemingly turned things around Friday when he played the first nine holes in three under par.
He hit a ball in the water at the 11th hole, leading to a double bogey, and then hit two poor chips on the 12th for a second double. He rebounded to birdie the next two holes and finished at 4 over par, on the cut number.
“I kind of had it going for a little bit,” he said. “I was playing some really good golf. Hit some nice shots. Actually made some putts. Then kind of messed up some really easy things. Took on maybe too much risk or hit a really poor, I mean, one really bad swing, and some seriously bad execution around the greens on the par-5. So it was a very stressful, nice day for me.”
Woods’s 142 consecutive made cuts included 31 tournaments that did not have a 36-hole cut. It ended when he missed by one stroke at the 2005 Byron Nelson Championship.
So far, Schauffele has played in 19 events that do not have a cut, including the Sentry in January.
The two-time major champion, who won the PGA and British Open last year, is behind in his preparation for next month’s Masters, having missed at least four tournaments he would have previously played.
And it was understandable that he might bring the cut into play.
For large fields such as a major championship, there's a cut after 36 holes to better manage play on weekends. For the majority of Woods’s career, players had to be among the top 70 and ties to make the cut. The PGA Tour has since changed this to the top 65 and ties.
The Masters, as a smaller-field major championship, has cut to the top 50 and ties. The PGA Championship is usually 70 and ties with the U.S. Open 60 and ties.
Of the PGA Tour’s eight Signature events, the Genesis, Arnold Palmer and Memorial cut to the top 50 and ties.
Schauffele wasn’t patting himself on the back for making a cut. It’s not what he came here to do, ultimately.
But given where he’s been and trying to work his way back, it was a noble achievement, especially after such a tough first day and coming back from an injury.
“I feel good, physically great,” he said “Mentally, you know, O.K. So [I’m] working on it. My goal was just make it to the weekend, just so I can have two more rounds of golf. I just need as much golf as possible.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Xander Schauffele Ekes Out Made Cut at Arnold Palmer Invitational to Extend Streak.
