LOS ANGELES – Scottie Scheffler was in dead last when his morning began with a 9-foot birdie attempt on the 11th green at The Riviera Country Club.

For as bad as the previous day went – and it was terrible, 5 over through 10 holes before play was suspended, Scheffler’s worst start to a TOUR event in his career – this putt was an early chance to flip the script.

He missed it low, walking after it before it even reached the hole. A few hours later, he watched another putt miss low, now on the seventh hole of his second round. He ruffled his hair as he walked toward it, dropping his putter on the ground as he neared. He was past being angry. Now, he was just exasperated. He left the green with his other playing partners still needing to putt out, and traversed the long walk back to the eighth tee, stopping once he found a small folding chair to take a load off. It had been that kind of tournament for Scheffler, now 4 over and four back of the cut.

Yet, somehow, 10 holes later, Scheffler stood over a 7-footer at the 18th to make the weekend and lipped it in. He gave a subdued fist pump, a reaction more emotive than some putts he’s holed to win golf tournaments. He was happy to celebrate a small victory on Friday. He had at least earned that.

“This place and I have like a weird relationship,” said Scheffler, who played those last 10 holes in 4 under to make the cut on number at even-par. “I feel like I can play so well out here and I just haven't yet.”

Scheffler is the latest superstar to be tormented by Riviera. Tiger Woods famously never won here, despite possessing all the game to dismantle what’s known to be a ball-striker’s paradise. Jack Nicklaus never won at Riviera either.

The comeback started on the ninth hole. After escaping the eighth hole with a par thanks to a fortuitous series of drops, Scheffler hit the fairway on the ninth, then stuffed his approach to 4 feet and made the putt. He birdied the drivable 10th, too, making up for an uncharacteristic mistake in his first round, when he drove it near the green but then dumped his chip into the bunker and made bogey. This time, from a very similar position, he spun his chip inside 3 feet. He made good on the par-5 11th as well, two-putting from 30 feet for another birdie. He kept bogeys off his card for the rest of the back nine, picking up the last birdie he needed at the par-5 17th. A par on the 18th was all he needed to make the weekend. In keeping with the past two days, he didn’t make it easy. A poor greenside chip left him the 7-foot tester that he snuck into the low side of the hole.

Making that putt kept Scheffler’s cut streak alive. He holds the longest active streak on TOUR with 68 straight made cuts. It also leaves the possibility for him to maintain his top-10 streak, which he’s done in 19 straight events, the longest such streak in the modern era.

But it’s also the third weekend where that streak will be in jeopardy, as Scheffler has gotten in the habit of digging himself an early hole. In three straight events, he’s shot even-par or worse in the first round. At both the WM Phoenix Open and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Scheffler was able to climb his way out and still give himself a shot on Sunday. He’s finished in the top five in both. That challenge will be accentuated even more this week in Los Angeles, starting further back of the lead than he has in either of the first two events. Scheffler’s Thursday blues are particularly confounding because he’s led the TOUR in first-round scoring average in each of the last three seasons.

For now, it’s just served as a buffer for the rest of the TOUR and a source of drama. Watching Scheffler make incredible weekend runs has been a highlight of the early season, as if he’s “The Freeze” runner at Atlanta Braves games, giving the field a head start before chasing them down.

He has yet to hunt anyone down completely. At least he gave himself a race to run this weekend.

A few big names did not give themselves the same chance. Among the notables to miss the cut: Jason Day (5 over), Justin Rose (3 over), Chris Gotterup (3 over) and Russell Henley (2 over).