PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Xander Schauffele flirted with the reduce line for the second straight day and the world No. 3 snuck by means of to increase his reduce streak to 59 in a row.
“I used to be fascinated with the reduce line for certain,” Schauffele stated. “Knew I wanted to make birdie.”
The reduce fell at 1-under 143 with half of the sphere of 144 advancing to the weekend on the 2025 Gamers Championship.
Joel Dahmen improved from 76 within the first spherical to 66 or as he put it, 10 strokes higher.
“I used to be very conscious of the place the reduce was,” Dahmen stated. “I made the eight- or 10-ish footer, no matter on the final and Geno (Bonnalie) was like, ‘That was enormous.’”
The ten-stroke enchancment from spherical one to spherical two paled compared to Justin Thomas who went from 78 to a course-record-tying 62.
“Making the reduce is a very, actually huge deal,” Thomas stated. “I simply needed a tee time on the weekend.”
Not everybody was so lucky. Peter Malnati was 3 underneath stepping to the 18th tee on the Pete Dye structure however discovered the water and made triple bogey and was despatched packing.
Dahmen defined why making the weekend mattered for him. “There’s numerous factors this weekend. There’s some huge cash this weekend. The leaderboard is fairly bunched proper now. So a very good weekend can go a protracted methods,” he stated. “All of us hate lacking cuts. The grind of creating a reduce may be very satisfying. Yeah, so I will sleep properly tonight.”
Many different notables gained’t sleep really easy fascinated with what went flawed at TPC Sawgrass.
Massive names who missed the reduce at TPC Sawgrass
Justin Rose
Making his 20th begin on the Gamers, Rose shot 71-73 and missed the reduce for the second straight 12 months on the Gamers and third time within the final 4 years. He ranked T-115 in proximity to the opening.
Hideki Matsuyama
The Japanese star received off to a horrendous begin, enjoying the primary 5 holes of the primary spherical in 5 over. He battled again however it wasn’t sufficient. He shot 74-70, and struggled along with his putter, rating T-111 in SG: Placing. Matsuyama had completed T-5 and sixth the final two years on the Gamers. It’s the third time in 10 begins that he’s missed the reduce at TPC Sawgrass.
Sam Burns
Burns made 9 bogeys in two rounds and couldn’t make sufficient birdies at TPC Sawgrass. He shot 73-72. He ranked 133rd of 144 in SG: Strategy the Inexperienced. He heads to the Valspar subsequent week the place he’s a two-time champion.
Adam Scott
Making his 23rd begin on the Gamers, Scott, the 2004 champ, missed the reduce for simply the fifth time. He shot 74-72. Blame the iron recreation. Scott ranked 132nd in SG: Strategy the Inexperienced and T-135 in proximity.
Ludvig Aberg
The Swede was among the many event favorites at the beginning of the week however he shot 71-75 and has a brief journey house since he lives regionally. Three doubles on Friday – at Nos. 4, 10 and 16 – did him. It was an off week with the irons and his quick recreation let him down – he ranked No. 134 in SG: Across the Inexperienced. It’s Aberg’s first missed reduce since final 12 months’s British Open in July.
Viktor Hovland
The Norwegian shot 80 on Thursday and a 68 wasn’t sufficient to earn a weekend tee time. Hovland missed his third straight reduce and hasn’t made the weekend in a event with a reduce but this season. Hovland struggled with the large stick, rating 142nd in SG: Off the Tee within the first spherical. Hovland stated he’s nonetheless looking for solutions and regain the shape that made him the 2023 FedEx Cup champion.
“I’ve seen good enhancements simply within the final week however it’s going to want a while and work to get it again to the place it was,” Hovland stated. “Actually engaged on the mechanical issues to get it again to the place I can have the ability to predict the ball flight. I don’t know what number of tournaments I shall be filling in. I’ve been seeing higher ends in observe, which is promising, as a result of my philosophy is that if I can’t hit the pictures in observe there may be actually no level for me to play tournaments. At the least now I’m seeing some enhancements in observe.
Will he play subsequent week on the Valspar? “Nonetheless fascinated with it, “he stated. “I’m registered so we are going to see.”
Brian Harman
The Georgia Bulldog was a runner-up final 12 months however this time shot 73-77 on the Gamers. It’s simply the fourth time in 13 appearances that Harman hasn’t made the weekend. It’s additionally simply his second missed reduce in 9 begins this season. Harman’s recreation was subpar throughout the board: SG: Tee to Inexperienced (124); SG: Strategy (129); and SG: Across the Inexperienced (122).
Matt Fitzpatrick
The Englishman missed the reduce for the third time within the final 4 years on the Gamers. He shot 78-72. He made three double bogeys on Thursday. He ranked 138th in SG: Off the Tee on Thursday and his scrambling was not significantly better – 5 of 13 and ranked T-137.
Max Homa
Homa shot 79-71 and missed his fourth straight reduce on Tour. He shot himself out of the event rapidly by carding 42 on the entrance 9 on Thursday. Homa continues to battle with the motive force, rating T-138 in SG: Tee to Inexperienced in his first spherical and hitting simply 4 fairways on Friday.
Tony Finau
Finau’s ninth look on the Gamers was a bust as he shot 76-76. The stats for Finau inform a troubling story as he ranked 130th in Strokes Gained: Tee to Inexperienced and even worse in SG: Strategy the Inexperienced, shedding greater than six strokes to the sphere and rating 140th.
Wyndham Clark
Technically, this may go down as a withdrawal and never a missed reduce, however Clark, a runner-up right here final 12 months, was 4-over by means of 9 holes when he withdrew citing a neck damage.
