Reversing fortunes: Xander Schauffele storms to 54-hole lead in The Players Championship
PONTE VEDRA BEACH -- Xander Schauffele made sure Sunday's final round of the 50th Players Championship will hold everyone's interest.
It didn't look that way early.
When defending U.S. Open champion and 36-hole leader Wyndham Clark birdied the par-4 first hole of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass to start Saturday's third round for the last twosome, a runaway was in the offing.
Clark had a five-shot lead over Schauffele at that point and was starting to show an aura of invincibility after two 65s in a row, then an opening third-round salvo when he lasered a shot out of the woods on the right of the first hole to set up a 5-foot birdie putt.
When Schauffele missed from 4 feet for birdie, it seemed as if the rout was on.
Not so fast.
Schauffele, a seven-time PGA Tour winner but going on 22 months since his last title, followed a tried-and-true formula at the Stadium Course -- attack the short par-4s and the par-5s -- and with a bogey-free 65 took a one-shot lead over Clark at 17-under-par 199, the third-lowest 54-hole total in tournament history.
Brian Harman breaks 36-hole record
Brian Harman of St. Simons Island, Ga., (64), rocketed up the leader board with six birdies in a nine-hole span and is third at 15-under 201. Combined with his 65 in the second round, Harman's 15-under score on those two days broke Tom Hoge's Players record for the best score in the two middle rounds by one shot and tied Jason Day (2016) and Webb Simpson (2018) for the best score in two consecutive rounds.
Just in case all three falter in the final round there's a group within range just waiting to pounce. Matthew Fitzpatrick (68), the 2022 U.S. Open champion who birdied four of his last five holes and Maverick McNealy (68), the only non-winner on the PGA Tour among the top eight on the leaderboard, are 13-under.
Sahith Theegala (67), who birdied Nos. 15 and 17, wrapped around a short eagle putt at No 16; and defending champion Scottie Scheffler (69), who birdied his last three holes, are 12-under.
Schauffele charged, then defended
Despite hitting only two fairways on the back nine, having to scramble at No. 15 to save par on a 6-foot putt, underwhelming pars at Nos. 16 and 17, and a nice par save at the last, Schauffele had done enough, making birdie on half of his first 14 holes on another warm Northeast Florida day while Clark spun his wheels and had to battle from tee shots in the water at Nos. 12 and 17.
"It's awesome ... incredible," Schauffele said. "It's what it's all about for us. For me at least. I love my job. I love playing golf and competing. That stadium arena there around those finishing holes is sort of all I can ask for."
Schauffele had to work hard for pars to protect his lead on those closing holes. He missed a 31-foot birdie putt at No. 16 after his drive went in the right rough and his second shot found the bunker short and left of the green; he hit his tee shot long and left at No. 17 and two-putted from 35 feet; and hit his tee shot onto pine straw to the right of the 18th fairway, came up short of the green but executed yet another marvelous short-game shot (he leads the field in scrambling, covering pars on 13 of 14 holes when he missed the green) to par the last.
Before that ... a combination of hard work and pure magic.
Schauffele attacked birdie holes
Schauffele made up for his short miss at No. 1 by two-putting for birdie at No. 2. He birdied the short par-4 fourth and sixth holes on putts of 10 and 13 feet.
He got up-and-down from behind the ninth green and from in front of the 11th green for short birdie putts. And he resisted the urge to try to drive the 295-yard 12th, laying up and wedging to within 10 feet for his third birdie in four holes.
That was working-class stuff.
Then came the hero shot.
Schauffele blocked his approach at No. 14 a bit, with the ball landing clear across the green from the front-left hole placement. But he drilled a 58-foot birdie putt to take his first lead over Clark, who made four pars in a row after a birdie at the 11th.
"When you make 58-footers, you kind of get up-and-down on holes like 18 from the front rough, it takes a little bit of stress off certain parts of your game," Schauffele said with a smile. "A little bit of head down. Shoot as low as possible."
Clark had to scramble following water shots
Clark (70) didn't play poorly. But he missed more greens (hitting 11, after finding 16 and 15 in the first two rounds) and wasn't as sure with his putter.
He was fortunate to play the two holes where he found the water, Nos. 12 and 17, at 1-over.
The tee shot into the Island Green was particularly galling to Clark. He had just regained a share of the lead with his birdie at No. 16 but stepped up on the 17th tee and fatted a sand wedge.
The ball never had a chance, dropping into the water yards short of the bulkhead.
Clark re-teed at the same spot and knocked another sand wedge to within 7 feet, and made the putt.
“It's massive,” he said of the mistake at No. 17. “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. But yeah, I followed it with a great swing and a great putt. I'm in the final group tomorrow, which is huge.”
Clark didn’t lose sight of the fact that he didn’t make a huge number at the 17th and as far as he’s concerned, he and Schauffele start the final round virtually even.
“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,’” he said of saving bogey at the 17th. “We had a good club. Honestly, I made a bad swing and chunked it.”
Brian Harman looking for a follow-up hit
Harman proved his mettle with a dominant performance at the Open Championship last year. He'd like nothing better than to add luster to his resume by besting golf's deepest field at its flagship event, at a course he says gives a pugnacious short knocker like himself a fighting chance.
He's got three career top-10 finishes at the Stadium Course, with a tie for third in 2021.
"I think it's a great test of golf. I think if you go out and execute a bunch of golf shots and think your way around this place, you can shoot a low number, or if you don't you can shoot a high number," Harman said. "This tournament has produced a variety of winners ... at the bombers' tracks I have less of a chance, but I enjoy coming here. I feel like it's a fair test, and I think that's probably why I've done okay here."
Scheffler, still in neck pain, will not give his title without a fight. He closed with three solid iron shots to produce his birdies, on putts of 6, 7 and 12 feet.
"I hit some good shots towards the end ... it was good to see some quality shots," he said. "I did my best to stay patient out there, but this place can be fairly frustrating and it was nice to get some birdies to close. I'm just battling, doing my best to just maneuver my way around the golf course, hitting shots. Really just doing my best. That's about it."
Players attack Stadium Course
With the weather staying warm and the wind laying down, the field attacked the third round for an average of 70.289, the second-lowest in tournament history for the third round.
The lowest was last year at 69.573.
Only Clark and C.T. Pan among the top-16 failed to break 70.
Seven of the holes on the Stadium Course averaged under par, including some surprises: No. 7 (3.986), No. 3 (2.877) and No. 17 (2.836, a record low at the Island Green).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Now it's a Players: Xander Schauffle surges past Wyndham Clark to take lead
