Lucas Glover explains strong start at 2025 Players Championship.
Lucas Glover: “I had several today, left-edge putts downhill, fast, from two and three feet that I would have missed three years ago.”
- Xander Schauffele barely made the cut to continue his streak of 59 consecutive made cuts on the PGA Tour.
- Schauffele shot a 71 in the second round after a first round 72, putting him at 1-under par for the tournament.
- The Jupiter resident was unhappy with his performance through the first two rounds, citing struggles in all aspects of his game.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — Xander Schauffele has made more consecutive cuts than any active player on the PGA Tour, and holds the longest streak since Tiger Woods’ 142 straight from 1998 to 2005.
Yet, for the second consecutive week, the No. 3 golfer in the world was sweating out playing into the weekend as he finished Friday.
Schauffele, a Jupiter resident, needed a birdie on the par-5 ninth hole at The Players Championship to stay one shot above the cut line as it stood after the first wave and no need to fret about checking his phone all afternoon.
“I was thinking about the cut line for sure,” he said after playing his first two rounds in the feature group that included the top three players in the world: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Schauffele.
“Knew I needed to make birdie. I think two-putting is probably the easiest way to birdie 9, and I was able to do that.”
But it wasn’t an easy two-putt. Schauffele left himself with a 51-footer after his second shot while having to navigate a slight ridge. He played it safe and left himself with a 2.5-footer to secure a 71. He sits at 1-under after an opening round 72.
Schauffele’s 59 consecutive made cuts is sixth all time behind Woods, Byron Nelson (113), Jack Nicklaus (105), Hale Irwin (86) and Dow Finsterwald (72).
While Schauffele is happy about making the cut, not much else about his game has been pleasing.
Schauffele was asked to assess his play the first two days at TPC Sawgrass.
“Really bad,” he said. “Yeah. Yeah, just not very good.”
What’s the issue?
“Everything,” he said. “Not hitting it close enough, to duffing chips, to missing every fairway, to hitting fairways to missing greens.
“It’s pretty gross, to be completely honest. So if I can eke out this cut, that would be nice. But the game feels pretty bad.”
Feeling on range not translating to course for Schauffele
Schauffele was 2-under after 11 holes Friday and played the next five holes 2-over before the birdie on No. 9. Although his driving improved in the second round, hitting nine fairways, three more than Thursday, the biggest issue both days is Strokes Gained: Approach to the Green, coming in around 100th in the field.
Schauffele will not give himself a break after missing two months because of an injured rib. His first event after being diagnosed with a strained intercostal with a small cartilage tear was last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he started with a 77 but rebounded with a 71 Friday. He finished tied for 40th with a 4-over 292.
It was his worst score relative to par in 57 events dating to the 2022 Masters.
“Surprisingly, it feels kind of close, which is, I know, pretty sick to say,” Schauffele said. “I know a lot of guys say that, but I’ll get a little bit cozier on the range and kind of get in a decent pattern, and then as soon as I get on the course it seems to get a little bit more crooked.
“I’m not sure if it’s something setup-related or something that I’m not doing or not doing on the course that I do on the range, but it feels pretty bad.”
Bad enough to make his 59th consecutive cut.
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
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