Xander Schauffele described his 11th hole double bogey as getting “hit in the face with a frying pan.” Then he called his chip on the 12th hole a “disaster” that led to another double bogey.

And suddenly Schauffele was in unknown territory late on Friday: outside the cutline.

Schauffele had not missed a cut since the 2022 Masters, which spanned 57 events entering the week, the longest active streak on TOUR. That was very much in peril as the world No. 3 navigated the back nine at Bay Hill, one of the toughest tests on TOUR, in his first start in six weeks.

But Schauffele rallied with birdies at 13, 14 and 16 to put himself on the right side of the cutline with some breathing room. A bogey at the 18th hole dropped him to 4-over but that was enough to make the cut on the number. Schauffele has now made 58 straight cuts, the longest streak since Tiger Woods’ infamous cut streak that spanned 142 events from 1998-2005.

“I try really hard to not quit,” Schauffele said. “I said earlier in the week I’m going to have to go to a special place to play decent golf, and I had to dig deep. So it was good practice on that front.

“Austin and I are proud of our cut streak, no doubt. Is it what we think about? No. But usually when you focus on winning you make a lot of cuts and end up somewhere in between.”

Schauffele said he messed up “some really easy things” that made the cutline sweat much more dramatic than he hoped. He said he has struggled to adjust to the speed of the greens in his first TOUR start since The Sentry, which makes sense given he had played all of 27 holes since Hawaii until arriving on-site this week.

Schauffele was 3-under and bogey-free until he arrived at the 11th hole. His drive found the fairway bunker and his recovery shot was sub-par, leaking into the water hazard that lines the left side of the green. After the penalty, he hit his fourth shot from just over 100 yards to 40 feet and two-putted for double bogey.

On the par-5 12th, Schauffele was in the greenside rough after two shots but hit two poor chips back-to-back, the first running off the other side of the green and the next a chunk that brought the ball back and close to his feet. He was unable to get up-and-down from there for another double bogey.

“I knew it was going to be tough and I’m glad I’m proud to make the weekend,” Schauffele said. “I know that sounds ridiculous, but I am really happy I can get two more rounds of golf on a really tough property to try to get myself ready for hard tournaments for the rest of the year.”

Schauffele is committed to next week’s PLAYERS Championship, but beyond that is not sure of his schedule. He hopes to play the following week’s Valspar Championship, but may swap that out for one of the upcoming Texas tournaments if his body needs a rest.

It’s not time to rest yet for Schauffele, though. His flurried finish on Friday secured another two hard, but well-earned, days of work this weekend.