While the Arnold Palmer Invitational features a limited field of just 72 players, it's one of three Signature Events on the 2025 PGA Tour schedule to include a 36-hole cut, the others being The Genesis Invitational and the Memorial Tournament.
As with the other two, the API sees the top 50 and ties, plus anyone within 10 shots of the lead after two rounds, advancing to play the weekend at Bay Hill.
As it pertains to the 10-shot rule, Shane Lowry took several players out of the mix during Friday's second round, firing a 5-under 67 to take the lead into the weekend at 8-under. Simple math tells us that anyone at 3-over or worse—a group that turned out to include 37 players—needed to get into that batch of top 50 and ties.
And there was all sorts of drama in that regard late in the afternoon, as the projected cut line went back and forth between 4-over and 5-over. Ultimately, it was Max McGreevy and Lucas Glover who made the difference.
McGreevy was at 6-over heading into his final four holes, but birdies at both the 15th and 16th moved him to 4-over, which is where he finished after making pars at 17 and 18. Glover was 5-over with three holes to play but then made birdies at 16 and 17 to get to 3-over. He also made par at the 18th.
As such, the final cut line at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational proved to be 4-over, which means 51 players will compete for the $20 million purse over the weekend.
A pair of 2025 PGA Tour winners were among those who missed the cut at Bay Hill
Among the 21 players heading home early are WM Phoenix Open winner Thomas Detry (+5), Cognizant Classic winner Joe Highsmith (+5), Viktor Hovland (+5), Sahith Theegala (+5), Min Woo Lee (+7), Max Homa (+7), Maverick McNealy (+9), Billy Horschel (+9), and Tom Kim (+10).
It looked for a while as if Xander Schauffele's streak of made cuts, which stood at 57 coming into the week—the longest active streak on the PGA Tour—would come to an end as double bogeys at both the 11th and 12th put him at 6-over.
But the world No. 3 bounced right back with birdies at 13,14, and 16 to get three shots back. Schauffele bogeyed the 18th, but his 4-over total through 36 holes was just enough to keep his streak alive.