Rahm misses cut after shooting 67-71

After shooting 67-71 in the opening two rounds of the Travelers Championship, Jon Rahm will miss the cut in a PGA TOUR event for the first time in nearly two years.

The only other time he failed to play the weekend in that span was at this year’s PLAYERS Championship, where an illness forced Rahm to withdraw after an opening-round 71. That WD ended his run of 25 consecutive cuts made on the PGA TOUR, which was the longest active streak on TOUR.

This week marks the first time since the Fortinet Championship in September 2021 that Rahm has failed to qualify for the weekend after completing two rounds. Rahm also dealt with illness that week, withdrawing from the Wednesday pro-am because of a stomach ailment.

This is just his 14th missed cut in 147 career PGA TOUR starts (9.5%). Over the past three seasons, he has missed just three cuts in 57 starts.

Rahm arrived at the Travelers Championship as the FedExCup leader thanks to four wins this season, including the Masters.

But this week’s Travelers Championship demands players go low. TPC River Highlands is one of the shortest courses on TOUR. It is the site of the lowest score in PGA TOUR history, Jim Furyk’s 58 in 2016, and the lowest round by an amateur, a 60 by Patrick Cantlay in 2011.

Denny McCarthy held the first-round lead this week after shooting 60 on Thursday.

Rahm was T28 after shooting 3-under 67 on Thursday but made just two birdies during his second round alongside three bogeys.

Rahm needed 32 putts to navigate TPC River Highlands on Friday and didn’t make a putt longer than 4 feet, losing approximately 3 strokes on the greens. Errant tee shots led to bogeys on his first hole of the day, No. 10, and the 16th hole. His lone three-putt of the day led to a dropped shot on the fourth hole.

It was an uncharacteristic week all around for the 28-year-old. Ranked third in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 18th in SG: Putting for the season, Rahm lost strokes to the field in both categories at the Travelers Championship.

The missed cut opens the door for Scottie Scheffler to overtake Rahm in the FedExCup race. Scheffler trails Rahm by 267 points and needs a solo-second finish or better to surpass him. Rahm has led the FedExCup since he won The American Express in January. Scheffler, who has won twice this season including THE PLAYERS, is No. 1 in the world ranking.

With Rahm out for the weekend, Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland are now players with at least 10 starts this season who have not missed a cut. Schauffele’s streak of 27 made cuts extends to last season and is the longest active streak on TOUR.