Blake Davis
In the midst of the Triple Crown season, it seems appropriate that there is a horse running ahead in the Wells Fargo Championship.
Xander Schauffele leads big after a 67 in the second round on Friday to complete his 64 in the first. At 11, he has a four lead on Rory McIlroy and Jason Day heading into the weekend and looking to avenge his loss to Wyndham Clark here a year ago.
He is also seeking his first PGA Tour victory since the summer of 2022, when he won the Travelers Championship and the Scottish Open, just before his 150th Open Championship.
Schauffele has looked great so far, but as he noted after the round, it’s only Friday and the thoroughbreds are behind him with 36 holes to play. It won’t take another 64-67 showing on Saturday and Sunday to win this tournament, but it may still take something special to stop McIlroy, Day and a host of others.
Let’s take a closer look at Round 2 and what to expect this weekend.
The leader
1. Xander Schauffele (-11)
There it is, right in front of him. Data Golf says he has a 57% chance of winning the tournament, and with a four-shot lead and the way he’s hitting, you might even say it should be bigger.
Schauffele gained more than six (!!) strokes in approach play in the first two rounds. Six!
“I mean, the ball goes where I’m looking most of the time, which generally helps us pros feel more comfortable,” he said. “The feel of the swing and things of that nature can still feel a little strange, but hitting good shot after good shot in crosswinds and some difficult spots definitely gives you more confidence.”
But it’s not the strokes that have been the problem for him. It’s winning. As of the week of the 2022 Open Championship, Schauffele is one of five golfers to average at least 2.0 strokes gained per round or better. The other four – Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay – have 19 wins. Schauffele has zero.
“I played pretty good golf I would say last year,” he said. “I haven’t won in a few years, but I was definitely close. I just need to be really present in the difficult moments that have hit me in the past.”
Other contenders
T2. Rory McIlroy, Jason Day (-7)
T4. Taylor Moore, Sungjae Im (-6)
6. Collin Morikawa (-5)
McIlroy was excellent in the first two rounds at Quail Hollow, a course where he won three times. He’s fourth off the tee (which is normal for him), but more importantly he’s seventh on approach play, which is not. He is one of two golfers in the top 13 stroke losers with the putter, and only one player is ahead of him.
He agreed that things are starting to look up ahead of the second major of the year next week.
“Putting the time [helped turn things around]” he said. “After the Players, I went to see Butch [Harmon] for that day just to get some ideas. I think just the combination of going to see Butch, getting some ideas from him, working hard on it, trying to rekindle some feelings I had in the past, it all kind of started to click or come together. in New Orleans. I felt like I played really well there over the weekend. These two days were just a continuation of that.”
Spieth’s wrist is still a problem
After hitting his tee shot on the 12th hole, Jordan Spieth turned to someone (probably caddy Michael Greller) and said something about it “hurting a lot.” The camera then cut to him holding his left wrist, which he has hinted throughout the year is a recurring problem. Spieth was especially open about this at the Masters in April, and it would explain some of his performance ups and downs throughout the year. With him in contention this week at 3 under and with his career grand slam scheduled next week at the PGA Championship, it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
The form of Jason Day
Forget the dispute, what about the clothes? Golf Channel’s Frank Nobilo said he looked like the Great Gatsby, and everyone on golf Twitter seems to have an opinion? Personally, I know it’s probably objectively cool, but I would never in 100 years pull off a look like this.
Getty Images
Updated 2024 Wells Fargo Championship Odds and Picks
Odds via Sportsline Consensus
- Xander Schauffele: 4/5
- Rory McIlroy: 18/5
- Jason’s Day: 12-1
- Colin Morikawa: 22-1
- Sungjae Im: 22-1
- Ben An: 28-1
The books are essentially saying this is a two-horse race. I loved Morikawa at 6 under until he botched the last one to drop six behind Schauffele. Still, at 22-1, it’s not a bad number. McIlroy, though, is probably the play if you trust your iron play is actually back where it should be to win.
