PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Xander Schauffele didn’t drive it particularly well Saturday, his proximity to the hole with his approaches was even worse and all that really mattered is he shot his second 7-under 65 of the Players Championship at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass to claim a one-stroke lead over Wyndham Clark heading into the final round of the PGA Tour’s flagship event.
Noting that he only hit two fairways on the back nine, he smiled and said, “Don’t feel bad for me. 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 posted a bogey-free 65, erasing Clark’s four-stroke lead by the 12th hole and assuming solo possession by draining the 58-foot birdie he mentioned at the difficult 14th hole.
“I’m going to go to the range right now and try and clean up some of those missed fairways on the back nine. When you hit a lot of fairways out here you can get some scoring clubs in your hand, and with the greens being receptive you can fire at some pins,” he said. “It could be low tomorrow, but for the most part I’m going to try and enjoy myself and stay in my lane.”
Players: Leaderboard, tee times, hole-by-hole
Schauffele, ranked No. 6 in the world entering the week, has been coached by his his father his whole life but started working with swing instructor Chris Como late last year. It’s a significant change, and it could reap quick rewards if the 30-year-old Schauffele, a seven-time winner on Tour, can claim the biggest win of his career on Sunday. Speaking of the changes to his swing he’s made with Como, who has worked with the likes of Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau in the past and whose current stable includes former No. 1 Jason Day, Schauffele said, “I think there’s still a few things I’m not super comfortable with. We talk about it all the time. But a steady drip caves a stone and we both believe that’s the case, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Here are four more things to know from the Players Championship.
