Xander Schauffele misses the cut at Torrey Pines. That ends PGA Tour’s 5th-longest streak

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Scottie Scheffler only had three PGA Tour titles and no majors. LIV Golf had not signed up anyone to play in their new league funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. That’s how long ago it was since Xander Schauffele had a weekend off at a golf tournament.

Schauffele’s remarkable streak of 72 consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour ended on Friday in the Farmers Insurance Open when he missed an 8-foot birdie putt on his final hole. He missed the cut by one shot at Torrey Pines in his hometown.

“I don’t like missing cuts — I think my record proves that,” Schauffele said after his 69 on the North Course put him at 2-under 142. “But it’s actually kind of nice, to be honest, if I was going to pick a spot. I get to hang out with my family. … All said and done it’s probably the best place to miss it.”

It was the fifth longest cut streak in PGA Tour history, and the longest since Tiger Woods ended his record streak at 142 at the Byron Nelson Classic in 2005.

The longest active streak now belongs to Scottie Scheffler at 65. Scheffler has not missed a cut since the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August 2022.

Schauffele’s last weekend off at a golf tournament had been in the 2022 Masters. He had only a few close calls along the way. He returned from a rib injury last year at tough Bay Hill and made the cut. He also squeaked into the weekend at the PGA Championship last year.

This one he attributed to some equipment tweaks with his driver in which he wasn’t quite comfortable. The regret was not getting that figured out during the offseason, when he was spending time at home — except for winning in Japan — with a new son.

The driver was a big issue over two days at Torrey Pines. Schauffele hit only three fairways Thursday on the South Course, and he didn’t find the short grass until his ninth hole on the North.

“The fact that I was close to the cut is pretty amazing,” he said.

But he had his chances. He was on the cut number playing the reachable par-4 seventh, but his tee shot rolled back into a tough lie nestled against a patch of rough, and the same happened with his chip. That led to a bogey, only the fourth of the round on No. 7.

On the final hole, his 6-iron went just left of the green and settled on a hill in the rough, a tough shot to a back pin. His flop shot tumbled out of the rough, onto the green and settled 8 feet away. But the birdie putt missed on the low side.

“I had plenty of golf today to make it and bogeying a drivable par 4 and parring two par 5s in the middle of the fairway, you deserve to miss the cut,” he said. “So here I am.”

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