Xander Schauffele has etched his name into golf history by becoming only the sixth player to reach the milestone of making 60 consecutive cuts. The 31-year-old isn’t ready to rest on his laurels just yet, with his sights set on clinching victory at the Valspar Championship.
The World No.3 hasn’t missed a cut since the 2022 Masters, proving his consistency across PGA Tour events. The current run he’s on is the longest since Tiger Woods’ legendary sequence of 142 straight made cuts from 1998 to 2005, a record held in esteem as perhaps the most indomitable in the sport’s annals. Schauffele, throughout his impressive streak, has claimed two major victories — winning both the 2024 PGA Championship and The Open. Despite nearly missing the cut at the recent Players Championship, Schauffele demonstrated his resilience and skill at Florida’s Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course.
Reflecting on his long streak during the recent Arnold Palmer Invitational, Schauffele said: “Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely — it’s a cool thing. I try really hard to not quit. Austin (Kaiser) and we 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.”
Only a select few have managed to replicate Woods and Schauffele’s feat of evading 60 or more consecutive cuts, with golf legends Byron Nelson (113 cuts), Jack Nicklaus (105 cuts), Hale Irwin (86 cuts) and Dow Finsterwald (72 cuts) being part of this elite club.
Schauffele kicked off his performance with a 1-under 70 in the first round, nailing four birdies against three bogeys, and then backed it up with a 3-under 68 in the second, featuring five birdies to just two bogeys. These efforts have placed him in a tie for fifth position at 4-under, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with golfers such as Shane Lowry, Jeremy Paul, and Kevin Velo.
Hovering just two strokes behind the top spot currently held by Jacob Bridgeman, Schauffele remains in contention for triumph at Innisbrook. Post-second round, he said: “Yeah, pretty good start. In touch. I think the leaders are at 7 or 8, maybe. So the goal was just to be in touch going into the weekend, to get some of those feelings again.
“And, you know, as soon as I feel a little bit of pressure in my game the swing’s a little bit kind of dodgy at times. So it’s all part of coming back and trying to play at a high level.”
Having recently returned to the course following a rib injury, Schauffele’s form is commendable. While he’s successfully made every cut since 2022, recent outings in 2025 have seen him miss the top 25 in his past three starts.
He was close to losing his cut streak at both the Arnold Palmer and the Players Championship. On both occasions, he only just squeaked over the line, finishing tied 65th in the latter when only the top 65 and those tied progressed to the main competition.
