Clark sprints ahead at The Players Championship

MIAMI: Wyndham Clark posted his second straight 7-under round of 65 Friday to set a four-shot lead through 36 holes of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Clark, the reigning U.S. Open champ, reached 14 under thanks to a run of birdies midway through his second round at TPC Sawgrass. He was one stroke shy of tying the lowest opening 36-hole score in the 50-year history of The Players.

Clark enters the weekend with a sizeable cushion over Xander Schauffele and Canadian Nick Taylor, tied for second at 10 under.

With last year’s major breakthrough plus a victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (a signature event) in February, Clark is gaining a reputation as a “big game hunter.”

“I mean, I guess you guys could say what you want on that. I just really don’t know what it is. I would like to play great every week,” Clark said.

Clark began his round on the back nine and had a birdie and bogey through seven holes. He gained some momentum by holing an 18-foot birdie putt on the island green at the famed par-3 17th.

He made the turn and birdied Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6, the latter another 18-footer. His approach at No. 1 sat down just 1 1/2 feet from the cup for a tap-in. A 9-foot birdie roll at the par-5 ninth allowed Clark to polish off a 6-under 30 for his second nine.

“More than anything I’m just super excited that I kind of had a ho-hum front nine and then turned and really just got into a nice zone and felt really good on the greens and shot an awesome number,” Clark said.

Schauffele carded a double bogey and an eagle during his second-round 69, while Taylor’s seven birdies outweighed three bogeys for a 68.

“I said at the start of the week, a lot of times here I’ve had a lot of great rounds,” Taylor said. “I’m happy I’ve been able to piece together a couple nice ones. I feel like I’m learning to scale back at times and kind of play to my strength.”

Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick (69) is tied for fourth at 9 under with Maverick McNealy (68). World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot 69 and is tied for sixth at 8 under with Tom Hoge (69), Germany’s Matti Schmid (68) and Canada’s Corey Conners (68).

Scheffler -- the defending Players champion and last week’s winner at the Arnold Palmer Invitational -- felt a pinch in his neck early in his round Friday, which developed into pain. He received treatment midway through his round.

“I did enough I felt like today to keep myself somewhat in the tournament, and so that’s really all I could ask for,” Scheffler said. “The way I was getting around the course, the way my neck was feeling, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to continue playing, so yeah, good fight out there.”

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who shared the first-round lead with Clark and Schauffele, was eight shots worse on Friday, picking up four bogeys and a double on his way to a 73. He is tied for 15th at 6 under.

Though most golfers got their rounds in, the second round is technically suspended due to darkness. Two players, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and Canada’s Ben Silverman, will return Saturday morning to complete their final hole, the par-5 ninth. Hisatsune is even par for the tournament and Silverman is 1 over, with the cut line projected to fall at 1 under.

Justin Thomas (1 over) and Jordan Spieth (2 over) are among the big names who will miss the cut.