The THE PLAYERS still doesn’t have an owner. Not even, if we push it, is it a matter of two or three. It is the first and main conclusion that can be drawn once the third day is over. The new leader is Xander Schauffele (-17), who has given a lesson in good play in many ways, but especially in terms of recoveries around the greens at the TPC Sawgrass, pulling off more than ninety percent of those he has had to face in the total of the three days (13/14), a real monstrosity on this course, with this rough.
Schauffele, who precisely closed the round with a fabulous approach on the 18th to leave the par given and maintain the solo lead, has signed a card of 65 strokes, clearly winning the game against his playing partner, the standout leader at the start of the day, Wyndham Clark (-16), who tomorrow has to play the role of hunter, repeating the duel in the stellar match.
Earlier, Brian Harman (-15) had delivered a sublime 64, getting fully involved in the fight for victory and closing a fifteen-under par in the last two rounds. Needless to say, a killer like him on the greens goes out tomorrow with all the options in the world and some more. Harman, moreover, it goes without saying, is not only a great putter, but a very brave, very courageous competitor, who came out of that successful challenge at Royal Liverpool (he has said it several times in recent times) turned into a player of another dimension.
Clark, and his round of 70 strokes, which is not bad at all but this Saturday did not make the difference in any way (almost a third of the competitors have signed cards of 68 strokes or better result today), has opened the doors to a handful of candidates, apart from Schauffele and Harman. At least, four: Maverick McNealy (-13), Matthew Fitzpatrick (-13), Sahith Theegala (-12) and Scottie Scheffler (-12). As you can see, we have a superb Sunday set up in Ponte Vedra Beach, with at least seven ‘beasts’ in the fight.
As could not be otherwise, despite the discomfort he has been suffering in his neck, whether it rains, hails or the sun scorches the planet, the world’s Number One still had to show up in some way. And he did it right at the end, when the rope was really tightening after another lukewarm day on the greens, waking up out of pure competitive courage and converting three consecutive birdies on holes 16, 17 and 18. Scheffler has to be beaten two and even three times to make sure he doesn’t snatch the trophy in a last impossible sprint.
Also Clark, despite everything and that awful ball he threw into the water on the 17th, exudes character and courage. He is a tough nut to crack who will sell his defeat very dearly in the worst case scenario. It was almost a certainty that he could not maintain the wild pace of conversion on the greens he had been showing, but even this Saturday, without being his best round, he has made it clear again that his arguments go far beyond a hot putter (what a way he has of impaling the irons). He won the US Open, said he was here to stay at the top and he is not breaking his word.
McNealy is new to these big tournament lides, although he shows more and more shapes. And as for Fitzpatrick and Theegala… They, especially the Englishman, have long outgrown the label of simple animators. They are players of volcanic nature, very capable of almost anything.
Perhaps the preparation of the course has been a bit surprising, that’s the truth, with softer greens than expected and, in general, more manageable than what might be demanded of a tournament of this caliber. A matter of opinions, of course. We’ll see how the Stadium course appears tomorrow and if everything was part of a plan with more substance (crazy Saturday and Sunday of tightening the screws, for example).
