Xander Schauffele seizes Gamers lead after Clark’s gaffe

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Wyndham Clark had simply regained a share of the third-round lead on the fiftieth Gamers Championship on Saturday when Xander Schauffele missed an extended birdie putt on the par-5 sixteenth, the beginning of probably the most well-known ending stretches in golf.

After seizing momentum, Clark walked to the tee field on the par-3 seventeenth gap and gazed on the 1000’s of followers surrounding the enduring island inexperienced. The opening was solely 123 yards away, but it surely may as properly have been a mile with stress constructing earlier than his white-knuckled shot.

Simply earlier than Clark put his ball on a tee, his caddie, John Ellis, advised him to not take a full swing with a sand wedge. Ellis was afraid that if the reigning U.S. Open champion nuked the wedge, his ball may find yourself on high of the inexperienced, leaving him a tough putt again down the hill and towards the water.

Clark took a few follow swings and pulled his wedge again. He chunked the shot, and his ball by no means had an opportunity to achieve the inexperienced, touchdown 15 to twenty yards brief within the water.

“As I used to be over the ball, I sort of obtained to the highest and I used to be like, ‘Take a bit of off,’ after which I simply sort of [decelerated] and chunked it,” Clark mentioned. “It wasn’t actually a scarcity of focus or something. It simply was truthfully a poor swing.”

That mistake helped Schauffele erase Clark’s 4-stroke benefit after 36 holes and take a 1-stroke lead over him heading into Sunday’s ultimate spherical. Schauffele carded a bogey-free, 7-under 65. He caught Clark on No. 12 after which took a 1-stroke lead with a 58-foot birdie on the par-4 14th.

Reigning Open Championship winner Brian Harman is 2 strokes behind at 15 underneath after posting an 8-under 64 on Saturday. After carding his solely bogey on the par-5 ninth gap — which required the lefty to hit a right-handed shot — Harman had a 5-under 31 on the again 9. Maverick McNealy and Matt Fitzpatrick are 4 strokes again at 13 underneath.

World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler, who’s trying to turn into the primary back-to-back winner in Gamers Championship historical past, stayed within the hunt by posting birdies on 4 of his final 5 holes. He’s 5 strokes behind at 12 underneath, together with Sahith Theegala.

“I would not say I am out of the event,” Scheffler mentioned. “I am undoubtedly on the skin trying in, however a scorching day tomorrow might go a great distance.”

Schauffele, ranked sixth on this planet, is likely one of the most proficient golfers on this planet with no main championship victory. He will not be capable to win one at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday, however he can seize the “fifth main” and the $4.5 million winner’s purse, the richest in males’s skilled golf.

It is the seventh time in Schauffele’s profession that he has led or co-led a event after 54 holes. He gained twice within the earlier six tries, on the Genesis Scottish Open and Vacationers Championship in 2022. Schauffele mentioned he is aware of it’d take one other low quantity on Sunday to win once more.

“In all probability fairly related, to be trustworthy,” Schauffele mentioned. “I’ll go to the vary proper now and attempt to clear up a few of these missed fairways on the again 9. While you hit numerous fairways out right here, you will get some scoring golf equipment in your hand, and with the greens being receptive, you possibly can fireplace at some pins. It may very well be low tomorrow, however for essentially the most half I’ll attempt to get pleasure from myself and keep in my lane.”

After posting consecutive 65s to begin the event, Clark is aware of he’ll have to scrub issues up within the ultimate spherical, together with his indecisiveness on the seventeenth gap.

As poor as Clark’s first swing on the seventeenth was on Saturday, his second one was practically good. As an alternative of taking his third shot from the drop space, he hit once more from the tees. Clark requested his caddie if he ought to hit from the drop space, however Ellis advised him he did not just like the angle and the shot was too shut.

“It was sort of a no brainer to hit from there,” Ellis mentioned. “He requested me, and I mentioned, ‘No, we will hit it from proper right here,’ really easy alternative.”

Clark knocked his ball to 6½ ft. He made the putt for bogey. Schauffele and Clark each made par on the troublesome 18th, leaving Schauffele with the benefit heading into Sunday.

“It is unlucky on a gap that is so iconic and has a bunch of hassle to have sort of your worst swing of the day,” Clark mentioned. “However yeah, I adopted it with an incredible swing and an incredible putt. I am within the ultimate group tomorrow, which is large.

“I am hoping that is an enormous level within the event and we glance again after tomorrow and have a look at that gap and say, ‘Hey, that was perhaps the shot and the putt that meant all of it.'”