Notebook: Xander Schauffele misses Farmers Insurance Open cut; powering up

Xander Schauffele might have been the only person at his final hole Friday afternoon at Torrey Pines North who didn’t know he needed to make an 8-foot birdie putt to avoid missing the cut in a PGA Tour event for the first time in nearly four years.

The putt on the ninth green rolled to the right of the hole and after he tapped in for par, Schauffele turned to his caddie, Austin Kaiser, and said, “Is that it?”

Kaiser’s succinct reply: “Yeah, you’re done.”

So, Schauffele said later, “In terms of pulling a tooth, that was kind of it.”

It certainly was an unfamiliar feeling for the San Diegan, who had made 72 straight cuts since his last miss at the 2022 Masters. It was the longest active streak on the PGA Tour and the fifth-longest streak in history, just over halfway to Tiger Woods’ record of 142.

Ironically enough, 142 also happened to be the score Schauffele totaled in the first two rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open, a 1-over 73 on Thursday and a 3-under 69 on Friday.

Only golfers at 143 or better will play the final two rounds on the South Course. Schauffele will be home, a few miles from the course.

“Obviously I don’t like missing cuts; I think my record proves that,” Schauffele said, “but it’s actually kind of nice, to be honest, if I was going to pick a spot. I get to hang out with my family. If I miss the cut in Charlotte or somewhere, I would just be sitting in a hotel room by myself. I have the comfort of my family here to hang out. You know what, all said and done, it’s probably the best place to miss it.”

This was Schauffele’s first tournament since his victory in October at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan. He said it was “pretty amazing” he was even close to making the cut, given how poorly he drove the ball, hitting just eight of 28 fairways over the two days.

He said he wasn’t able to get comfortable with some last-minute equipment tweaks, including to his driver.

“I don’t like switching stuff and I switched, and then when you switch back, things kind of feel weird,” Schauffele said. “You start swinging to fit the club and it kind of affects like everything down the bag.”

Schauffele was in good company in missing the cut. The four other San Diegans in the field — JJ Spaun, Justin Hastings, Charley Hoffman and Mark Geddes — all will be watching this weekend, as will the likes of Patrick Cantlay, Alex Noren, Akshay Bhatia, Brandt Snedeker, Max Homa, Billy Horschel and Ludvig Aberg.

Power-ing up to second

If what’s past truly is prologue, Seamus Power would be watching his beloved Liverpool FC today on TV.

Power would have played the first two rounds of the Farmers, missed the cut as he had the other five times he was in the tournament, then headed home to Las Vegas to have a bit of a bobble over Liverpool’s chances to win a Premier League match for the first time in 2026.

But maybe Shakespeare didn’t know everything, because Power now has his own victory to pursue. Over the past two days, the 38-year-old Irishman shot rounds of 65 and 66 and not only made the cut, but finished ahead of every other golfer not named Justin Rose.

So, when Liverpool kicks off at noon against Newcastle, Power should be on the sixth or seventh hole at Torrey Pines South, in the final group with Rose (a Chelsea fan) and Joel Dahmen (Premier League allegiance unknown). At 17-under 127, Rose leads Power by four shots and Dahmen by five.

“Going out there and getting a chance to compete against Justin, I mean, that’s what you practice for and stuff,” Power said. “So it will be really fun.”

Just making it to the weekend was a victory of sorts for Power, who had missed the cut here in 2017-19, 2021 and 2024. (It should be noted he did make the cut and finish tied for 24th in last year’s Genesis Invitational here.)

“I was surprised when I heard that because I always do like the South Course,” said Power, who leads the field in putting this week. “It feels great. I feel more comfortable on the South. Hopefully it’s the start of some good things here.”

Power has had a “strange couple years,” as he put it, due primarily to a muscle injury in his back that was especially bothersome last year, when he was outside the top 100 in points for the first time in five seasons. He’s healthy now, and after having a full offseason to work on his game, he also made an adjustment to his putting.

“It’s the best offseason I’ve had in a few years,” Power said. “It really makes a difference. I’m in a good frame of mind because of that.”