The Sights and Sounds of an Alejandro Tosti Missed Cut

As dusk settled in on Friday evening at TPC Sawgrass, I walked over to the driving range, curious which players were putting in work following the second round. Stephan Jaeger bashed driver after driver in 15-20 second intervals, part of his continued effort to speed train. Sahith Theegala, whose 2025 is off to a less-than-stellar start, hit balls nearby.

But it was the scene a couple hundred yards away, outside the room where players sign their scorecards, that will resonate with me the most from the 2025 Players Championship. Alejandro Tosti had just signed for a second-round 75 after finishing bogey-bogey to miss the cut by two. I won’t soon forget the anguish on his face as he came to terms with his week ending, just a couple of hours removed from being firmly in contention.

A member of Tosti’s team had his arms around his shoulders, offering words of encouragement in Spanish and trying to soften the blow. This golf tournament meant a lot to the 28-year-old Argentine, who is actively battling to establish his career on the PGA Tour after finishing outside the top 125 of the FedEx Cup standings last fall and failing to secure full status. During Wednesday afternoon’s practice round, Tosti hit the first hole-in-one of his life on the 17th hole and jumped into the pond in celebration. Minutes later, I walked alongside him as he played the 18th hole, dripping wet, beaming from ear to ear, and fist-bumping with nearby fans who were sharing their own iPhone videos of the ace with Alejandro.

On Friday afternoon, Tosti joined Cara Banks on the telecast for a walk and talk on No. 12. At that moment, Tosti had opened his second round birdie-eagle and stood 5 under for the tournament, squarely in the mix. He relayed to Banks the importance of this championship, especially given his proximity to the Players as a former member of the University of Florida men’s golf team. Tosti’s tournament began to unravel shortly thereafter, firing a tee shot into the water on 18 en route to a triple bogey, followed by a sloppy closing nine holes to miss the cut by two strokes.

The scene outside of tournament scoring embodied the Alejandro Tosti I’ve observed from the handful of times I’ve walked rounds with him over the past couple of years. While he visibly struggled with the realization he wouldn’t be playing the weekend and cashing a check, he kept making time for the little girl who had been walking with her parents during Tosti’s round, clearly acquaintances of Tosti’s. The toddler kept yelling “Tosti!” and jumping up to give him high fives, which Alejandro met with energy and genuine enthusiasm. He picked her up and played with her, then blew her a kiss as she and her parents said goodbye for the week.

More broadly, Friday evening’s scene underscored the necessity of cutlines and the importance of playing for real stakes – a sentiment echoed by Shane Lowry, who posted on Friday night that “Sometimes just making the cut means a lot to us out here.” It was also a refreshing reminder of the pressure each player in the field feels while competing for both financial and professional security on one of the biggest stages in golf. It’s easy to slip into viewing professional golfers as characters on a screen and forget about their humanity. Dealing with the highs and lows of professional golf is difficult for any human, and past “Tosti Tales” suggest he may have a harder time than others dealing with the roller-coaster that is golf.

Nonetheless, he took the time and energy to smile and laugh with a young girl outside of scoring who didn’t know or care that Tosti had just signed for 75. As Alejandro navigates the highs and lows of competing for a career on the most competitive Tour in golf, I hope these types of stories become part of his narrative too.