Scottie Scheffler battled back at Riviera on Friday and posted a second-round 68 to work his way back inside the cut-line at the Genesis Invitational.
Incredibly, Scheffler was five-over-par for his first 10 holes on day one of the rain-delayed Genesis Invitational, as he continued the theme of making poor starts to his first rounds on the PGA Tour in 2026.
In fact, Scheffler made his worst ever start to a PGA Tour event after 10 holes of his first round.
Are you concerned about Scottie Scheffler right now?
He is really struggling with his first rounds right now…
However, just as we all expected, the world number one gradually worked his way back into the tournament on Friday at Riviera.
He played 26 holes in five-under-par on Friday, ending the day on even-par for the tournament and nobody will be surprised if he posts a couple of 66s over his next two rounds and finishes inside the top 10 come Sunday.
Even if he does finish strong at the Genesis, he will surely be slightly concerned about his poor showings recently during the first rounds of tournaments.
Scottie Scheffler’s explanation for first round woes after day two at Riviera
Scheffler has now carded scores of 72 or worse in three straight opening rounds on the PGA Tour.
His first round at Riviera was probably the worst of the lot.
And after his round, he was asked if there is any reason in particular why he’s struggling to get out the blocks quickly in 2026.
“I mean, I would not say anything in particular,“ Scheffler suggested, before elaborating on a potential reason for his recent first round struggles.
“I think in both the last two, teeing off late is never the easiest and I’ve gotten off to slow starts.
“Like teeing off yesterday when we did was pretty challenging around this golf course. I mean, the wind and with how soft the greens were and how bumpy they can get along with wind and they’re fast, if it was last week it would have been easier because you can kind of at least try to jam it in.
“Here it’s like you can’t — you don’t want to have another three, three and a half feet coming back. You kind of got to get up there by the hole and it’s a little bit of a crapshoot sometimes whether or not it’s going to go in.
“And yesterday was definitely a day none of mine were going in. It was nice to get out this morning on some fresh greens and hole some putts and do what I needed to do in order to get to the weekend.“
Scottie Scheffler proves his greatness after fightback at the Genesis
Scheffler deserves huge credit for battling back and making his 68th consecutive cut on the PGA Tour.
It would have been so easy for him to mail it in and miss the cut by a fair margin after his start on Thursday but then again, the reason he didn’t do that is why he’s world number one, right?
Do you think Scottie Scheffler will beat Tiger Woods’ consecutive cuts record?
He's not even halfway there right now…
Only another 74 consecutive cuts to make before he equals Tiger Woods’ long-standing record of 142 in a row!
In all seriousness, though, Scheffler will take real encouragement from the way that he fought hard and battled against his swing, and indeed his putting, to ensure that he’s playing weekend golf at the Genesis Invitational.
On his day, he is obviously unstoppable.
The same can be said for the likes of Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm but what separates the American from everyone else is his ability to hang tough when he’s playing poorly.
Then he’s able to find something all of a sudden and play 36 holes in 12-under-par or so, and that’s why he earns himself top-10 finishes pretty much every single time he plays.
Who would actually be surprised if Scheffler did the same again this week at the Genesis Invitational?
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