Brooks Koepka Rallies to Make Farmers Open Cut as Xander Schauffele's Streak Ends

Koepka, in his return to the PGA Tour, made the cut on the number, but Schauffele fell one stroke short, missing his first weekend tee time since the 2022 Masters.

Brooks Koepka rallied to make the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in his PGA Tour return. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour will last another two days. 

The five-time major champion, who is playing for the first time on Tour since 2022 after years on the LIV Golf circuit, was in danger of missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open with a first-round 73. He began his second round stuck in neutral to open his Friday at Torrey Pines, 1-under through seven holes. Then, an eagle on the par-5 17th (Koepka's eighth hole of the day after starting on the back nine) changed the momentum. 

The 35-year-old still had to grind on his second nine, though. He bogeyed the par-4 2nd, before birdying the par-5 5th and par-4 7th to get to 3 under, on the cut line. A par save from the bunker of the par-3 8th allowed him to make a routine par on the closing par-5 and secure a weekend tee time. 

“Wanted to play four days this week,” Koepka said afterward. “I think that was important. Played really solid today. Drove it a lot better. Putting, I feel like I hit a lot of great putts, they just didn’t go in. I felt like I was all over the lip today.”

In Round 1, Koepka soaked in a warm reception from the fans, but admitted he was nervous. How did he feel a day later?

“It was definitely different,” Koepka said. “I think yesterday I was excited to play, nervous, and kind of didn’t know what to expect, but today felt more normal, I guess. But yeah, I mean, don’t get me wrong, I definitely still got antsy, but I guess maybe a little bit of nerves, just trying to figure it out and test— see where my game’s at too, right? I feel like I’m playing really well. It’s just been a long layoff.”

Eagle for @BKoepka! 🦅

He moves just inside the cutline @FarmersInsOpen 👀

📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/zkAKlCRWlX

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 30, 2026

Sitting T58 on the leaderboard, 14 strokes off Justin Rose’s lead (he set the tournament’s 36-hole scoring record), isn’t going to incite the masses. But having not made a start since the first week of October, amid a year in which Koepka struggled, he’s starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. 

“Got two days to figure it out and kind of really see where my game’s at, kind of take the reins off and go,” Koepka said. 

Had Koepka dropped one more stroke in the first two days, he would have been trunk-slamming. On the contrary, that’s how it went for Xander Schauffele. 

The two-time major champion, making his season debut in his hometown, finished at 2-under, failing to make birdie on his last by pushing a roughly 10-foot putt to the right. 

Why is this notable? Because Schauffele had made 72 consecutive cuts, the longest on Tour (Scottie Scheffler is now the active leader at 65, with Corey Conners third with 20). Now, Schauffele misses out on two more rounds for the first time since the 2022 Masters. 

Xander Schauffele misses his first cut in 1,391 days.

The streak dating back to the 2022 Masters ends today @FarmersInsOpen. pic.twitter.com/244vfW8M2L

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 31, 2026

The streak, however, wasn’t on the 32-year-old’s mind coming down the stretch. 

“There’s no [scoreboards] on the North Course, so I kind of missed my putt and I looked at [caddie Austin Kaiser] and I said, ‘Is that it?’ He said, ‘Yeah, you’re done,’ and I was like, O.K.’ So, you know, in terms of pulling a tooth, that was kind of it.” Schauffele said. 

“I think the whole point of the streak is you just—I mean, Scheffler’s on a good one and you don’t really think about it, you’re just trying to hit as many good shots as possible and make as many good putts as possible. I had plenty of golf today to make it and bogeying a drivable par 4 and parring two par 5s in the middle of the fairway, you deserve to miss the cut. So here I am.”

It’s not all bad, though. 

“It’s going to be nice to have the weekend off,” the world No. 6 said. “Going to go home and relax and regroup.”

Other notables to miss the cut were J.J. Spaun, Akshay Bhatia, Will Zalatoris, 2023 champion Max Homa and Ludvig Aberg, who won last year’s Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines. 

At least in Koepka’s case, he’ll have a chance to go low over the weekend and soar up the leaderboard. And CBS, broadcasting its first Tour event this season, would surely love to have that storyline alive for ratings purposes amid Koepka’s return.

---