It was a three-way draw that led the leaderboard after 36 holes at the Wells Fargo Championship after Wyndham Clark, Tyrrell Hatton and Nate Lashley made moves in the second round on Friday at Quail Hollow Club. This trio has only come together to claim two PGA Tour wins, but they all enter the weekend with the chance to make it a memorable one with some pre-tournament favorites lurking. Arab.
But the first two days were not kind to all. Rory McIlroy, winner of the Wells Fargo Championship last held at the quail Hollow’s traditional home ground in 2021, narrowly qualified for the weekend event in its first event in about a month. Meanwhile, some of the big winners were among those returning home after failing to make it through.
Let’s take a deeper look at the leaders and other notables coming out of round two of one of the PGA Tour’s designated events for the 2022-23 season.
Leaders
T1. Wyndham Clark, Tyrrell Hatton, Nate Lashley (-8)
Clark, Hatton and Lashley may not be the usual suspects, but those three spearheaded the lawsuit over the weekend as golfers battled each other over a $3.6 million paycheck. determined for the winner. Hatton’s score of 6 under 65 – Friday’s best of those three – saw him birdie four of his first six holes on a nine-point start before returning a pair of clubs with consecutive bogeys, but things heated up late in the game. Motivated by a hot putter, Hatton played the last four holes of the day under 4, birdie at par-4 6 and par-4 9 while an eagle came in at par-5 7.
“We made some good shots,” Hatton said of his long shot. “Is it in 6th place? I guess it’s probably from about 30 [feet]25 feet in the 7th and then about 25-30 feet, I think in the 9th. They’re not the kind of shots where you hit the hole consistently, so to end the round that way. Well, obviously I’m very pleased with that.”
Clark and Hatton played an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole, recovering from a ghost on the par-4 sixth hole when he hit a four under 67 to take a 36-hole lead. For Lashley, it was a clean finish from start to finish as he played bogey-free Friday on his way to a 5 under 66. Lashley and Clark safely crossed the “Green Mile” over two laps, with Lashley even beating Quail Hollow’s formidable Three-hole Quartet — all parsing on both days — and Clark combining the bottom two.
“It’s a different place,” Lashley said. “Thinking [wise], you are trying to parse here so many times. The weather is nice, so you can do some birding. But I’m not the longest player, so I’m hitting a lot of long irons into these holes. I hit some really good shots and got some good looks. If I can continue that, keep playing solid, get the ball in the fairway, we’ll see what happens.”
On the subject of mindset, Clark says that could be a differentiating factor for himself as he embarks on what he hopes is a strong weekend at the top of the charts. after 36 holes. Clark is looking for his first PGA Tour win with his best record being runner-up at the 2020 Bermuda Championship after losing the playoffs.
“Mentally, I’m a lot stronger,” Clark said. “I’m dealing with adversity, I’m dealing with success, I’m handling a lot of things a lot better, and I’m more patient with the competition and more relaxed. Before, I felt a bit restless and didn’t feel like it. comfortable being out there, and now I feel a lot more comfortable.”
Rick Gehman joins Greg DuCharme breaking Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship. Who puts themselves in position before the weekend? It’s the storyline, scorecards and favorite bets. Follow and listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts And Spotify.
Others are arguing
T4. Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, JJ Spaun, Adam Svensson, Justin Thomas (-7)
T10. Tommy Fleetwood, Michael Kim, KH Lee (-6)
Thomas had a nice finish Friday to compete at Quail Hollow, the venue for his first major title when he won the 2017 PGA championship. With a starting nine, Thomas hit the ball. got three of his last five holes to beat the leaders by the time his round was over. Thomas, who is looking for his first win since almost exactly a year ago at the 2022 PGA Championship, said his knowledge of where shots could be missed allows him to take a forward approach. more active on Fridays.
“I know how to handle it pretty well,” Thomas said. “I think it’s obviously different, but it’s similar to Augusta. I feel like if I’m not hitting well, there’s always a position I can get to. It’s difficult to hit the ball around the green, but one again, I just miss it at the right spots. … I feel like I know it, and as I move on, I feel like I can be aggressive and attack and put it in positions. favorable and, you know, take the initiative in my putts.”
Schauffele led a pair of seven under deep into the opening round on Thursday. His second round was relatively quiet before making some late moves. Schauffele, also starting at the back nine, played 12 holes Friday on an even point before a birdie on the fourth par-3 and par-5 took him back to the bottom seven.
“[The course] it’s really difficult,” Schauffele said. “It doesn’t matter if you hit long, you have to hit the right lane. It doesn’t matter how good your short game is, for the most part, you have to get your score pretty clear, with grain changes and the like. It doesn’t matter how good a hitter you are because if you’re in the wrong position you’re going to have to play defensively on the green all day.”
For Lee, sitting behind the top two would be a bit of a pain. He is having a good chance of taking a solo lead at the end of the round after moving to 8 points below with six holes left of the round, but he can’t get past the hump. Lee hit a par 5 in a row before crashing to tee off on the 9th par-4 hole, his last hole of the day, resulting in a double 6 to put him down 6 points for the tournament.
Max Homa lurks, other celebrities struggle
Don’t overlook Homa, who entered the weekend with a lot of momentum after finishing well in the second round. The defending champion Wells Fargo Championship raced past one day on six holes before playing the last 12 at under-5 on the way to a four under 67. Homa scored four birdies in a row from holes 13-16 before finishing. Finishing the last two holes of the “Green Mile” extended with the analysis to be three strokes behind the leaders with a score of 5 under for the tournament.
While Homa surged on Friday, other popular picks struggled in the second round. World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay was unable to make any moves on the leaderboard, being placed under 4 in the tournament after an even score of 71. And Cantlay had to work very hard to keep up. got there, placing 3rd on the day after six hours of the hole. As for world No 3 McIlroy, he came close to making it to the weekend, sitting on the line 1 under for the tournament in his first event since missing qualifying at The Masters.
Two of the notable names that will return home this weekend include world No. 14 Collin Morikawa (+4) and world No. 10 Jordan Spieth (+7). Spieth’s trouble started on the last hole of the first round, playing his last 19 holes 9 out of 9 after sitting 2 under on the 18th tee on Thursday. Spieth hit a triple-bogey 7 in par-4 on the 18th on Thursday before a 6 to 77 in the second round decided his fate.
