Wyndham Clark (-14) seems to have found his particular Rosetta Stone in the THE PLAYERS Championship. Until this week, the Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass was nothing less than an indecipherable hieroglyph for the current US Open champion. In his first two visits to this course (2021 and 2022) he had a very hard time, bordering on disastrous. Something started to make sense last year and in these first two days he has become a master level expert. The golfer from Denver, Colorado, has made a brutal cut that smells like a champion. There is a lot left, but history says that he has set a possible victory on track.
Clark has chained his second card of 65 strokes today and has taken the provisional command (there is all the afternoon shift left and we will see if anyone gets closer) with a five-stroke advantage, an authority rarely seen in the history of this tournament. In fact, in the 49 years that it has been played to date, only on four occasions did a leader enjoy three or more strokes of advantage after the second round and in all of them ended up winning the tournament: Webb Simpson (five strokes in 2018), Jason Day (four strokes in 2016), Greg Norman (three strokes in 1994) and Lanny Wadkins (three strokes in 1979). In addition, only on three occasions a leader of THE PLAYERS had reached -14 after 36 holes and all three times ended in victory. They were Simpson and Day with -15 and Norman with -14.
Clark himself was surprised by his result and it is not for less. His history in this tournament was not good. His average strokes until yesterday was 73. He missed the cut in 2021 with rounds of 79 and 73, he was left out again in 2022 with 73 and 76 and only last year did he straighten out his record here with a 27th place and rounds of 69, 73, 69 and 72 strokes.
What has changed? What is this result due to? What has Clark discovered? Well obviously it’s not as simple as pressing a key. If only it were. Basically, in his first two days he has putted scandalously. That’s how it could be summed up. This Friday he had ten birdie putts of less than seven meters and he made eight, five of them over three meters. In addition, he holed a five-meter par putt to finish off the work of art on the greens. He also left three balls given. The perfect cocktail.
Everything started on hole 17. Clark started the day on the 10th and had the round rather stopped, but from the island par 3 he has shot up. He made a very good putt of almost five meters for birdie and unleashed a cyclone. He made six birdies from 1 to 9, four of them in a row between 10 and 14. Exceptional partial of 30 strokes in the Sawgrass stretch where it is more difficult to make a result. A day to remember.
It is also true that this Clark, US Open champion, at Pebble Beach just over a month ago and at Wells Fargo last year, has little to do with the previous year. He has set his sights on being Number One in the world and he is very serious. Let’s not forget that he comes from being second in the Arnold Palmer Invitational behind the extraterrestrial Scheffler.
Regarding those who have already finished their second round, Wyndham has a five-stroke lead over Matthew Fitzpatrick (-9) and Maverick McNealy (-9) and six over Matti Schmid (-8), Scottie Scheffler (-8) and Corey Conners (-8). Fitzpatrick has regained solidity and was only slowed down by a double bogey on the 4th (ball in the water on this wonderful and treacherous short par 4), Schmid, who comes from fighting for victory in Puerto Rico, has offered his best version, despite finishing with a double bogey on the 18th, Scheffler has been somewhat more human in the shots to green and ‘only’ made 69 strokes, McNealy has been the second best putter of the day after the hurricane Clark and Conners is simply a player who gives the feeling that the design was made for him.
Among the crashes, which there are, stand out Nicolai Hojgaard (+5), Will Zalatoris (+4), Matthieu Pavon (+3), Nick Dunlap (+3) or Justin Thomas (+1). All of them have missed the cut.
