Xander Schauffele retains the lead of the Wells Fargo Championship. There are 18 holes left for the sixth designate of the season to be crowned and there is no player who is more deserving of victory than Schauffele. However, until yesterday the Californian seemed unapproachable, in fact he arrived today at the tee of hole one with the largest lead in the history of the tournament after 36 holes. Today a more human version of Xander has been seen.
Behind, with the nose stuck comes a Rory McIlroy who arrives like a runaway colt. After signing the best card of the day, 67 strokes, he stalks the leadership just one stroke away. The Northern Irishman enjoys at Quail Hollow, he knows what it is to win three times on this course and, although he is not the leader, the feeling is that he arrives with the arrow up for the last 18 holes. The tournament seems right now a fight between them two and with Sun Jae Im (-8) and Sepp Straka (-7) stalking from the rear. Tomorrow McIlroy and Schauffele repeat stellar match.
After 36 excellent holes today it was Schauffele’s turn to put on the work suit and hold on. It is very difficult to gallop for 54 holes and more on a course like Quail Hollow. It was necessary to hold the reins so as not to bolt. The tournament that the Californian is doing is outstanding, but the doubt arises whether the gas tank will last. Anyway, leading in Charlotte for 54 holes is a feat that no one can take away from him. We’ll see if he’s able to crown the perfect week he so craves.
Xander acknowledges that being so close and not tasting victory is starting to generate some anxiety, although he tries not to think too much about it. He has seven top 10s this season, hovering very close to victory, but without achieving it for 22 months: “I’m knocking on the door and I just tell myself that I have to keep knocking. I recognize the situation I’m in, and I realize that I’m playing good golf and I have to follow my own path,” Xander said this week.
What Xander was doing seemed easy, because during the first 45 holes of tournaments he had only made three mistakes and only two bogeys. In the second round today he has suffered a lot although he has not lost his composure at any time. Until yesterday he was the best in the tournament in greens in regulation with a 70% effectiveness and today he has barely exceeded 50%. That’s been one of the keys to his round of 71 strokes.
If yesterday he dominated with medium and long distance irons today he has not been so fine in that section and although he has recovered very well around the green, he has not prevented Rory from sticking to him a lot on the table.
Among the many recoveries that Xander has made, the one he made on the ninth hole of the day after going very far to the right from the tee stands out. The ball fell into a large bush of pine needles. Very meritorious the par he got from there with a good putt of four meters included. Rory smiled helplessly at the American who couldn’t be touched. From there the momentum changed sides. Rory accumulated birdies (holes five, nine, ten and fourteen) while Xander fought to keep the pars and made his third bogey of the week on the 12th flag. The feeling is that the wind has changed direction.
To prevent Schauffele from achieving the coveted victory comes from behind, as we say, a spectacular Rory McIlroy who waits like a hunter for the mistake of his prey. The Northern Irishman has 36 holes without making any bogey for the first time in the season on the PGA Tour. Except for the second round of the first day we see a Rory who minimizes mistakes, with much more control of his game and that is excellent news, especially considering that the PGA Championship is just around the corner. If at the beginning of the week he was more focused on what was happening off the field, hole by hole he has been seen focusing the shot.
Tomorrow from 19:35, we will again enjoy a beautiful battle between these two great players. One who seeks to close a 22-month title drought and the other who wants to add at Quail Hollow the fourth victory of his career before the assault on the PGA Championship. We will be here to tell you about it.
