Scottie Scheffler turned a shaky Friday into a survival act at the Memorial Tournament, shooting an even-par 71 to make the cut and keep his PGA TOUR streak alive. What looked on the front nine like a round that could unravel ended with him booking a place for the weekend at Muirfield Village.
That mattered because Scheffler's run of 75 consecutive made cuts was the longest active streak on the PGA TOUR, and Friday put it in real danger. He was 4-over through 10 holes, had made three straight bogeys and even admitted later, "I felt like I was going to shoot about 90 today."
The back nine was where he saved himself. Scheffler holed a 22-foot birdie on No. 15 and a 40-foot birdie on No. 16, enough to steady a card that had already included a shanked bunker shot at the fifth. By the time he walked off, he had turned what he called maybe some of the worst golf he had hit in a couple of years into a round that still got him inside the cut line.
He did not pretend it was pretty. Scheffler said it was maybe some of the worst he had hit it in a couple years, but added that he still managed to shoot even par on a course that demands elite ball-striking. The margin mattered even more because he said he was nine shots back going into the weekend, a position that keeps him in contention without giving him much room for another loose round.
Scheffler now moves on to his 76th consecutive weekend, a small but meaningful extension of a streak that already stood alone in the sport. The Memorial has been a strong venue for him, too: he had won the last two titles and is trying to join Tiger Woods as the only players to win three straight there. Whether Friday's recovery becomes the start of another title charge will depend on how much better he can swing it when the pressure rises again.
The cut line also took down several notable names. Jordan Spieth shot 7-over 79 and missed the cut, Andrew Novak also carded 79, Ben Griffin finished 7 over after a 39 on the back nine, Robert MacIntyre missed his third cut of the year, and Min Woo Lee fell out after playing the last two holes in 3 over. Hideki Matsuyama now owns the second-longest active made-cut streak on the PGA TOUR at 25 in a row.
