73 golfers made the one under cut at the 2024 Players Championship and start Saturday’s round chasing Wyndham Clark who surged to a 4 stroke lead on Friday with his second consecutive 7 under round. He has gained an astounding 13.7 Strokes Gained over the field with more than half (7.8) coming with the flat stick. Ranked 116th in the world just 12 months ago, Clark is looking for his fourth win on Tour. He broke thru at the 2023 Wells Fargo and added the 2023 US Open as his first Major. Clark shot a second round record 60 to win the rain shortened AT&T at Pebble Beach earlier this year. If he continues his stellar play, Clark will be difficult to catch this weekend.
TPC Sawgrass has played relatively soft this week. The course received significant rain preceding the event and the winds we’re used to seeing have not appeared. The field set a record average of 71.5 on Thursday and moved only slightly over par to 72.2 on Friday. Saturday’s forecast is for more of the same with warm temperatures and winds not expected to reach double digits. Officials seem to have forgotten about the middle of greens and the tucked hole locations combined with greens running over 13 on the Stimpmeter today should make for some interesting moments. There will be balls in the water on the iconic 17th island green with the hole cut a mere 5 paces on and 4 from the left edge.
Can anyone catch Wyndham? Canadian Open Champ Nick Taylor and Xander Schauffele both sit T-2 at 10 under. Maverick McNealy and Matt “I took the weights out of my grips” Fitzpatrick lie T-4 at 9 under. The number one golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler, leads a stellar group a -8, but with Scottie nursing an apparent neck injury we’ll have to wait and see if his previously unheard of tee to green performance will bring him back into the mix.
Great article 👍🏼
Amazing Article