- By Peter Scrivener
- ` Sport
29 minutes ago
image source, Getty Images
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Scheffler received treatment from a physical therapist between holes but was warned by a rules official about slow play
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Players Championship, second round rankings |
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-14 W Clark (USA); -10 X Schauffele (US), N Taylor (Can); -9 M Fitzpatrick (Eng) M McNealy (USA) |
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Selected: -8 S Scheffler (USA); -7 B Harman (USA); -6 R McIlroy (NI); -4 L Aberg (Switzerland); -2 T Fleetwood (narrow) |
US Open champion Wyndham Clark has a healthy four-shot lead at the halfway point of the Players Championship after shooting a seven-under-par 65 for the second time.
Xander Schauffele and Nick Taylor are at 10 under, Matt Fitzpatrick and Maverick McNealy one shot further back.
World number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler battled a neck injury and improved to eight under.
Rory McIlroy mixed five birdies with four bogeys and a double bogey as he shot a 73 to drop to six under.
The world number two, who was the overnight leader along with Clark and Schauffele, is eight shots off the lead despite making 15 birdies in his first 36 holes. Clark had 16 birdies in his first two rounds.
McIlroy struggled to match the control he showed on Thursday as he struggled around the legendary Sawgrass course.
He had three bogeys and three birdies on his first six holes, then another birdie on the ninth was canceled out by a bogey on the 12th.
Although the Northern Irishman landed a 16-foot birdie putt the next time, an erratic shot into the sand led to two more shots landing on the 14th.
While he struggled, Scheffler showed remarkable resilience, scoring five birdies in his 69 despite playing in discomfort for most of the round.
The American, who started on the 10th hole, said: “I hit a shot on my second hole and felt a little something on the back of my neck.”
“Then I tried to hit my tee shot on 12 and I could barely get the club back. So I got some treatment, maybe it loosened up a little bit, but I was pretty struggling most of the day.”
“I've done what I can to stay in the tournament and I'm hoping things will calm down and I'll be able to swing somewhat normally.”
“The way I moved on the court, the way my neck felt, I didn’t know if I could keep playing, so yeah, good fight out there.”
The 28-year-old, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five shots last week, is aiming to become the first player to win the Players title at the 50th consecutive edition of the PGA Tour's flagship tournament.
But he will move into Saturday's third round six behind Clark, who won at Pebble Beach earlier this season.
Clark holed five birdies in six holes to separate himself from the field and scored two more on his final four holes to take control of the tournament.
“My iron play was really solid, I made a few putts and then I was really strong mentally, so I would say all those things are the reason I'm sitting where I am now,” he told the Americans .
Fitzpatrick, the man Clark replaced as US Open champion, extended his first round of 66 by taking the lead around the turn at 10 under with four birdies in six holes.
But on the 13th hole he made his second shot from deep rough into the water and dropped two shots. A birdie on the par-5 ninth, his final hole, took him to a 69.
“Anything can happen at the weekend so I just have to try to stay patient, just keep doing what I’m doing and then move on,” the Sheffield-born player said.
Olympic champion Schauffele followed his opening shot of 65 with a 69 that included a double bogey after finding water on the par-five 11th and an eagle three on the long 16th after hitting his second shot had shot nine feet.
He was joined late in the day by Canadian Taylor at 10 under, who made birdies on the 15th and 16th holes as he shot a 68.
And Open champion Brian Harman catapulted himself into contention with a 65 and is now at seven under.
The infamous 17th strike claimed even more victims as Beau Hossler struck the 1,000th. Ball hit the water that almost surrounds the par 3 green in the history of the tournament.
The Englishman Justin Rose also came into conflict with the hole. He was in the running for a breakthrough when he teeed off at one under par, but dropped two balls into the lake when he made a ruinous quadruple-bogey seven that sent him to three over par.
Two players return to play their second rounds on Saturday after darkness once again limited play, but both have a chance of making the cut, eliminating all players at level or worse.
This means Rose will miss the final two rounds, as will American duo Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.
However, Japan's Ryo Hisatsune will tee off at even par on the par-5 ninth, his final hole, knowing he will have to make at least one birdie to make the cut.
Canada's Ben Silverman is at one over but has given up two shots in the ninth. He needs to hit it from 109 yards for Eagle to make it to the weekend.
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