Anyone who wants to win this year’s Players Championship is really going to need to take advantage of the scoring conditions of the first few days… because those are the ones who are really keeping some distance from the rest of the field.
Two Ryder Cup stars have struggled a bit in recent months at the midpoint of the tournament: Ludvig Åberg at -12 and Xander Schauffele at -10. They put themselves in double digits under par in the same way: a torrent of red numbers. Schauffele had eight birdies in the -7 round, while Oberg had two eagles, finishing with a 63, one stroke shy of the TPC Sawgrass course record.
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“Definitely, for the most part, I felt like I was in control,” Schauffele said. “It felt like I was attacking the golf course instead of defending it.” Schauffele hit all 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in the regular season, which is a good reflection on the 2024 season, when he won two majors.
That season, Schauffele noted, “was a year of really good results, and now I think we’re more focused on the process and trying to make sure things are sorted out and in a good place.”
Oberg is also down from his highs in 2024, when he finished second and tied for 12th in his first Masters and U.S. Open. He shot 29 on the front nine on Friday and held on until the 15th hole before making his first bogey — and the last one on the course.
Also high on the leaderboard: Cam Young (-9), Corey Conners (-8), Sepp Straka (-7) and 2021 champion Justin Thomas. After a long injury layoff, Thomas needed just three rounds to get back to low-scoring form and cap off a strong day two with this eagle:
The two most recent champions were in trouble and flirting with the promotion line for the second day in a row. Rory McIlroy needed a clutch birdie on the 9th hole (the 18th hole of the day) to get +1 and stay safely within the +2 cutoff.
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“I’m excited to spend the weekend here. I’m excited to get two more runs,” McIlroy said. “It would have been bad to go home this afternoon, so to be able to stay and hopefully play two more days, that’s a win.”
Meanwhile, Scotty Scheffler struggled all afternoon and still couldn’t find his fairway, letting his frustration spread throughout the day:
Scheffler had bogeys on the 14th and 16th holes and was already on the cutline with two holes left. Time to start asking questions? Not yet, but it’s time to start thinking about when that time will be.
The toughest hole of the day belonged to Tom Hoge, who made five bogeys on the 7th hole, which is very relevant to almost anyone who tries to play golf:
Sunny skies and no rain are forecast for Saturday and early Sunday, which means the already treacherous TPC Sawgrass greens will only get slicker. That puts Schauffele and Oberg in a good position, though by no means a safe one.
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“We had some easy waves yesterday and a little bit of rain, and then the track softened,” Schauffele said. “The greens were a little firmer today. I think as long as it doesn’t rain anymore, the course will get firmer and firmer.”
Players continue playing on Saturday and end on Sunday.
