Schauffele fires flawless 65 for lead at Players
Xander Schauffele kept his head down and tried to post his best score Saturday in his bid to make up a fourshot deficit in The Players Championship, and he did better than that.
A bold shot from the pine straw led to one birdie. A 60-foot birdie putt gave him his first lead. And a superb up-and-down on the 18th gave him a 7-under 65 and allowed him to stay one shot ahead of U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.
“At times in the past I'll get a bit ahead of myself and lose a little bit of confidence when I shouldn't,” Schauffele said. “Today I tried to stay in my own little box there.”
Clark had his head down for another reason. His sand wedge to an island green at the par-3 17th came up some 15 yards short of dry land and he stooped over in disbelief. Remarkably, he reloaded and hit the next one to 7 feet to escape with bogey.
“It's unfortunate on a hole that's so iconic and has a bunch of trouble to have kind of your worst swing of the day,” Clark said. “But yeah, I followed it with a great swing and a great putt. I'm in the final group tomorrow, which is huge.”
Schauffele had another bogeyfree round, this one impressive because he hit only two fairways on the back nine amid swirling wind, and was at 17-under 199.
Clark also saved par on the 18th for a 70 and will be in the final group, no longer in the lead but very much alive. He also was quick to find perspective on his bogey at the 17th, knowing it could have been far worse.
“I'm hoping that's a huge point in the tournament and we look back after tomorrow and look at that hole and say, `Hey, that was maybe the shot and the putt that meant it all,' ” Clark said.
For a short time on a balmy afternoon, it looked like The Players could turn into a two-man race between Clark and Schauffele. But there were enough birdies, bold shots and big rallies to suddenly make today filled with possibilities.
British Open champion Brian Harman made up ground on the front nine and then started the back nine with four birdies in five holes on his way to a 64. He was two shots back.
Maverick McNealy and former U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick each had a 68 and were four shots behind.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world coping with a neck pain this week, kept alive his chances of being the first back-to-back winner in 50 years of The Players. He birdied his last three holes for a 68 that left him in range at five shots behind. He was joined by Sahith Theegala (67).