Genesis Scottish Open second round (finishers only)

-9 J Smith (Eng); -8 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), -7 N Von Dellingshausen (Ger); -6 K Vilips (Aus), D Willett (Eng)

Selected others: -4 J Thomas (US); -3 T Fleetwood (Eng); -2 J Rahm (Spa); E S Scheffler (US)

Full leaderboard

Seventy-eight events. Four years. 1,428 days. Scottie Scheffler’s long and impressive run of cuts made is now over.

Nobody can say they saw this coming. The world number one hadn’t even finished outside the top 25 in any tournament since 2024.

The four-time major winner arrived at the Renaissance Club this week targeting a first win on Scottish soil to further burnish a gleaming CV and send him into his Open Championship defence on a high.

Instead, he is packing his bags early. A two-over 72 in the second round sealed his Genesis Scottish Open fate.

Scheffler is level par at the halfway stage, with the cut expected to be two under. Knowing he likely needed a chip-in birdie on the last, he ended up with bogey to extinguish any lingering hope.

He fails to make the weekend of a PGA Tour event for the first time since the 2022 FedEx St Jude Championship. The next longest active steak of consecutive cuts made in the circuit is now Matt Fitzpatrick – on 28.

Scheffler was somewhat bemused as he tried to make sense of it all.

“It felt like nothing was going right,” the 30-year-old American said.

“I didn’t really feel like I played that bad. This golf course can be just tough at times. There’s some humps and mounds out there.

“It’s a little different now with some of the signature events not having cuts. But I don’t think I finished outside of the top 20 or something like that many times this year.

“So I’m definitely proud of the consistency and wish I had a couple of days over the weekend to make up some ground.”

Having battled to a 68 on Thursday, Scheffler was primed to challenge. But he made a faltering start to his second round with two bogeys – on 11 and 12 – in his opening three holes.

The two birdies he mustered on a frustrating day were cancelled out by a further pair of bogeys as his fortunes darkened in sunny East Lothian.

As Scheffler searched for positives, he can at least begin preparations for The Open at Royal Birkdale earlier than expected. But after another Scottish Open struggle, he was non-committal on whether he will be back here next year.

“This is a golf course I feel like I can play well on,” he said. “I just haven’t for some reason. I think this is my second missed cut here.

“It’s funny. Last year, I got really frustrated on this golf course playing some good golf and just not really able to get anything going as well. Then I went and played well at The Open Championship.

“So it’s suiting me well over the years. I haven’t played well here but I’ve played pretty well at The Open. I’ll reflect on that kind of at the end of the year and assess what my plans are going into next season.”

Ludvig Aberg, who carded a 71, is set to miss the cut by one shot, while Jon Rahm is poised to squeeze into the weekend after a superb 65 lifted him to two under.

Rory McIlroy, who shared the first-round lead with other players, was among the late starters on Friday.

In contrast to Scheffler’s troubles, playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick thrived to move within one of the clubhouse lead set by fellow Englishman Jordan Smith.

Fitzpatrick, chasing a fourth win of the season, laid the groundwork with five birdies in a row from the 11th – his second hole – to charge up the leaderboard.

That momentum proved difficult to maintain as Fitzpatrick mixed three bogeys with three birdies thereafter in a 65 to reach eight under.

“Just felt like I did everything pretty solid. I feel fortunate enough to say that a lot this year,” said Fitzpatrick.

“This stretch of sort of March, February onwards to now, it’s definitely the best golf I’ve played in my career.”

Smith, the world number 82, benefited from a recent break as he tore round in 63 to set the target at nine under.

“I had three weeks off, put the clubs away for a week and then came back re-energised and looking forward to this next stretch,” he said.

“Things are feeling good. I’m in a good mental space and just need to keep it going.”