The impressive streak that's on the line for Xander Schauffele at Bay Hill

Returning to competitive golf after a two-month layoff due to a rib injury, at Bay Hill of all places, was always going to be a challenge for Xander Schauffele. It's hardly surprising that the two-time major winner struggled to a five-over 77 in Thursday's first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Equally unsurprising that Schauffele described it as getting his "a-- kicked."

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The buttkicking has added quite a bit of intrigue to Schauffele's second round, however. No, he's not going to come back and win (Schauffele is currently 300-1 after opening at 22-1), but he can keep an impressive streak alive with a solid bounce-back round. Schauffele has made 57 consecutive cuts on the PGA Tour, the longest streak of any active player, including Scottie Scheffler, who, at one under, looks as though he'll extend his streak to 48 straight on Friday. 

Should Schauffele miss the weekend, Scheffler would take over that top spot, the next closest competitor being Collin Morikawa, who is currently at 20 in a row. Like Scheffler, Morikawa shot a onder-under 71 on Thursday. Barring a catastrophe, he will reach 21. 

The good news for Schauffele is that everyone got their butts kicked in the opening round. Bay Hill delivered yet again and, if the forecast is to be believed, it will continue to deliver on the weekend. At five over, Schauffele is directly on the projected cut line, which for this week's signature event is top 50 and ties plus anyone within 10 strokes of the lead. Schauffele is currently 10 back and ended Thursday tied for 52nd. His second round will begin at 9:55 a.m. ET. 

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The last time Schauffele misse a cut? The 2022 Masters, where he shot rounds of 74 and 77 to miss by three shots. In his very next start, he won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with teammate Patrick Cantlay and has played the weekend in every PGA Tour event he's entered since. It's the sixth-longest streak in tour history. The longest, of course, belongs to Tiger Woods, who made 142 in a row between 1998 and 2005.