Scottie Scheffler bounced back on Friday at the Genesis Invitational to make the cut on the number after an awful start to the tournament on Thursday.
Scheffler began the Genesis Invitational on Thursday in disastrous fashion, playing his first 10 holes in five-over-par before darkness brought an end to the rain-delayed first round at Riviera.
It was yet another slow start on the PGA Tour for the world number one.
Are you concerned about Scottie Scheffler right now?
He is really struggling with his first rounds right now…
In fact, it was Scheffler’s worst ever opening 10 holes on the PGA Tour, beating his previous all-time high score of four-over through 10 at the Byron Nelson when he was a 17-year-old amateur in 2014.
Scheffler spoke about his poor start at the Genesis, and suggested that late tee times on Thursday at Riviera and Pebble Beach last week have been partly to blame.
However, it’s clear to see that Scheffler isn’t swinging the club like he usually does. His iron play has been well off the mark in 2026, and that is something he will need to improve moving forward.
Scottie Scheffler explains his approach to hitting into greens at the Genesis
So, Scheffler played 26 holes on Friday in five-under-par.
Despite the fact that he’s clearly not anywhere near his best right now, it was a huge improvement on what he served up on Thursday.
He heads into the weekend 12 shots adrift of the lead and it will take two very special rounds for him to even finish inside the top-5, let alone win.
Shooting two rounds in the low 60s will be extremely difficult for the 29-year-old, given his historic struggles on Poa annua greens.
After his round, Scheffler was asked about the challenge presented by the soft greens at Riviera.
“I mean, I would say the softness is challenging for a different reason at times,“ the world number one said.
“Like a good example’s this morning on 17, we’re playing 17, it’s playing into the wind, I had 76 yards to the pin and 56 degree would have been too much spin, and I hit 56 degree 115 yards and it was into about a five-mile-an-hour breeze, so I hit 50-degree, which is pretty unusual.
“And then when you get that softness in traffic and speed it can be very challenging to putt, especially with greens with this much pitch.
“So I just kept telling myself today just try to hit good putts, try to hit good putts. And I holed a couple. I don’t know what the stats look like, but I felt like I could have putted a little bit better. But overall I didn’t — I did what my goal was, which was to try and hit good putts.“
The good news is that the golf course seemed to be drying out throughout the day on Friday.
Do you think Scottie Scheffler will beat Tiger Woods’ consecutive cuts record?
He's not even halfway there right now…
And with some nice weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday, it may be slightly easier for the players to control their spin over the next couple of days.
Scottie Scheffler’s Genesis stats compared: Day one vs Day two
It’s obvious when watching Scheffler right now that he’s struggling.
However, do the stats back up the eye test?
Here are his numbers from his first two rounds of the Genesis Invitational this week:
| Stats | Round one rank | Round two rank |
| Strokes gained off the tee | 25 | T-51 |
| Strokes gained approach | 56 | 28 |
| Strokes gained around the greens | 52 | 14 |
| Strokes gained putting | 62 | 26 |
| Strokes gained total | T-63 | T-15 |
Scheffler’s stats improved considerably in four of the five key categories on Friday.
If he can make some marginal gains in all of those categories on Saturday and then again on Sunday, a top-10 finish may well be incoming for the Dallas native.
Scheffler is not completely out of the Genesis Invitational, but it would take a truly herculean effort for him to win this week from the position he’s currently in.
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