If Scottie Scheffler ever feels “a bit lost” on the golf course, it likely won’t take long for him to rediscover his groove.
Such has been the case at the WM Phoenix Open.
The world No. 1 opened with an uncharacteristic 2-over 73 at TPC Scottsdale, his worst strokes-gained round since the 2023 Tour Championship. So, T81 and 10 strokes off the lead, he sidestepped the media afterward and went straight to the practice area. There, he made an in-tournament grip tweak, hoping it’d spark him to a weekend tee time.
Mission accomplished. Scheffler fired a bogey-free 65 Friday to make the cut by three strokes at 4 under par.
“It’s kind of hard to explain. Just getting my hands a little bit more securely on the club is how I would describe it,” Scheffler said of his grip change after the second round. “Yesterday was a dig-it-out-of-the-dirt type of day in the afternoon. I try to avoid those as much as possible at tournaments, but after the way I felt over the ball yesterday, it was definitely needed.
“I almost was so discouraged I almost didn't even want to go practice. I went out there, and it was well worth it. I felt like I had hit a ton of balls to start the week, more than I normally would; didn’t really pay off.”
The extra practice session did, though. Now, Scheffer’s Tour-best streak of making cuts has been extended to 66 (the second-longest is Harris English at 20).
Not that he’s worried about that.
You may have been worried that Scottie wasn't going to make the cut ... he surely wasn't.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 6, 2026
Scheffler sits on the cutline with 8 to play @WMPhoenixOpen.
📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/R7EBtQ47sj
“The made-cut streak thing is a bit skewed these days,” Scheffler said. “I think when you look at the signature event model, we have some cuts, but they’re not really cuts in the traditional sense of how the Tour was for a really long time.”
Meaning, of the eight signature events, which feature limited fields of about 70-80 players, only three have cuts (The Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Memorial Tournament). And those cuts are top 50 and ties, plus any player within 10 shots of the lead. The non-signature WM Phoenix Open, in contrast, is a traditional top 65 and ties with a 123-player field.
But regardless of the tournament’s makeup, Scheffler doesn’t just want to play all four rounds—he craves winning.
Currently, Scheffler is T28, seven strokes off the lead held by Ryo Hisatsune, a 23-year-old from Japan ranked No. 88 in the world.
Sure, Scheffler will have to move the chains this weekend; however, it’s not uncharted territory, especially for this generation’s Tiger Woods.
The four-time major champion has two victories on Tour when he’s seven or more strokes back through 36 holes. One of those times was his maiden win here at TPC Scottsdale four years ago, clawing from nine strokes behind. And little over a month later, he turned an eight-stroke deficit into a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The 20-time Tour winner hopes to add this week to that list. But however he fares after 72 holes, Friday’s round was certainly rewarding.
“To come out to today, stay really patient, especially after not getting off to a great start, to stay patient, grind it out, put myself back into a position where—you know, I’ve put myself in contention from this exact position in this golf tournament, and it’s one of those places you can get hot,” Scheffler said. “That’s what I’ll be looking to do over the weekend. Definitely take a lot of pride in days like today. It’s nice to get myself back in the tournament. Sometimes (it) doesn’t feel like there is anything worse than missing cuts.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Scottie Scheffler Bounces Back at WM Phoenix Open to Keep PGA Tour-Best Streak Alive.
