– Xander Schauffele (-10) has carded a 65 today in the second round of the THE PLAYERS, matching his best-ever record at the TPC Sawgrass, and has taken the provisional lead of the tournament, awaiting what happens in the afternoon tee times. It will not be easy for anyone to surpass his total over these first 36 holes, so he has almost secured his place in Saturday’s feature pairing.
– It is the Californian’s first big breakthrough of 2026. Today he was seen walking the Stadium course under the aura he carried in 2024, the one that made him appear at times as an infallible player. And Schauffele hit one hundred per cent of the fairways today (14/14), which simplifies things a great deal on any course, but even more so on this week’s venue. Afterwards, he hit 16 greens in regulation, which is also not bad. This round already places him among the main contenders for victory in one of the season’s most important tournaments, certainly, but it also comes at a very opportune moment, with the majors season just around the corner. Although he won a tournament last autumn, let’s say that today has been the day this player has once again taken to golf’s main runway
– Precisely, playing alongside the Californian was Rory McIlroy (+1), although the Northern Irishman’s story over these first two rounds has been very different. It remains to be seen whether Rory will be around for the weekend, because right now you would be more inclined to bet against him… It is true his game has been too erratic, especially on Thursday, but on top of that the putter has not helped him at all. It is very odd that Rory could only manage four birdies in two rounds of golf, whatever the course, but that is exactly what happened. And one must consider a crucial detail: the longest birdie putt he holed was one and a half metres, since on three of the four birdies he was actually putting for eagle on a par 5… Too much of a burden. It must be stressed: we have not seen this week the best version of the world No 2, but even so today he created more than half a dozen birdie opportunities with putts of six metres or less, beyond the three birdies he did convert. That makes it almost impossible, especially when the long game is not in sparkling form.
El propio Rory McIlroy confirmaba estos datos son sus sensaciones. “I played a lot better than yesterday, but no putts dropped. I wish I had two more days”, he explained after signing the card. He does not only want two more days to be able to compete and improve his position in the standings, but for something even more important: not to change his schedule between now and the Masters. “If I ultimately don’t make the cut, I’ll probably add another tournament before Augusta, so there is a lot at stake on this cut. Making the cut would already be a win for me”.
Por último, en cuanto a las molestias ha dicho que se ha encontrado “prácticamente bien. Sólo me molesta un poco cuando me echo encima de la bola, por ejemplo en un chip con la bola más baja que los pies, pero con el driver o los hierros, por ejemplo, que tengo una posición más erguida, no tengo ningún dolor. Ahora me voy a esperar a ver si paso el corte, me voy a tomar un relajante muscular y me voy a echar una siesta”.
– Cameron Young (-9) and Corey Conners (-8), each with rounds of 67, five under on the day, remain close to Schauffele on the leaderboard and also look like solid picks for Sunday. On the negative side, perhaps worth highlighting is the difficult debut of Marco Penge (+7) in this tournament, with rounds of 75 and 76. Also missing the weekend Ben Griffin (+4), who this year still has not reached the level of excellence of last season (how hard it is to meet the new expectations), nor Shane Lowry (+5), who came out very bruised from that finish at PGA National, where he surrendered a tournament he apparently had won with a very unfortunate final-round ending, and has missed the cut at Bay Hill and at the THE PLAYERS.
