2024 Players Championship – Top storylines headed into the weekend

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Could Scottie Scheffler's neck determine whether or not the PGA Tour has another runaway winner in one of its signature events?

Scheffler, the world's No. 1 golfer, attempts to become the first back-to-back winner of the Players Championship in the 50th edition of the tour's flagship event at TPC Sawgrass this week. But his hopes hit a roadblock Friday when he felt neck pain on the second hole of his round.

Scheffler asked a PGA Tour official for Biofreeze, a painkiller, then received a massage from a physical therapist on holes 14 and 16.

Scheffler carded a 3-under 69 for a 36-hole total of 8 under, which kept him in contention, although tied for sixth place and 6 shots behind the reigning US Open winner Wyndham Clark and 2 behind Xander Schauffele and Canadian Nick Taylor. .

Clark, who was ranked 163rd in the world at the start of 2023, is looking for his fourth victory in the last 10 months. After earning his first PGA Tour victory at the Wells Fargo Championship in May, he added victories at the U.S. Open in June and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.

Clark looks ready to add another. His 4-shot lead ties Jason Day (2016) for second place in Players Championship history. Webb Simpson led by 5 at the halfway point in 2018. He led by 7 strokes after 54 holes and won by 4.

While Schauffele and Taylor put pressure on Clark on Friday, Scheffler has the pedigree and nerves to pursue him, and the former Masters champion was playing the best golf in the world earlier in the week.

“All you’re trying to do is put pressure on someone,” Schauffele said. “He's been playing incredible golf for several months now, and he's got the power and the accuracy and he's very confident right now. So it's important to be in that latter group just to try to put some pressure on him and to try to go there.”

This wouldn't be the first time Scheffler was down by 6 or more shots heading into the weekend and came back to win. He was 9 shots behind after 36 holes at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open and beat Patrick Cantlay in a playoff to earn his first PGA Tour victory. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill three weeks later, Scheffler rallied from 8 strokes down over the final 36 holes and won by 1.

At the very least, Clark knows the best golfer in the world is going to chase him down the final 36 holes. This will be the fifth time Clark has led at the halfway point; he won once before, at the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship, his first victory on the PGA Tour.

“I have so much respect for Scottie and his play and his consistency, and he’s really kind of the indicator right now of where you want to try to be,” Clark said. “Scottie is always in contention. He pushed me to be better and it's fun to watch him, so I'm really trying to catch him. I really owe him a lot. [for] some of my good golf lately.

As the tour turns

Golfweek, citing sources, reported Friday that players' directors from the PGA Tour's policy council could be set to meet with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, possibly as soon as Monday at Ponte Vedra Beach.

Golfweek said details of the meeting were being closely watched and it was “still unclear whether Saudi Arabia's powerful investment chief would commit to attending or cancel at the last minute.”

Five of the six player managers were participating in the Players Championship: Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson and Jordan Spieth. Tiger Woods was the only player manager not to compete this week.

On Tuesday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan told reporters that he met with Al-Rumayyan in Saudi Arabia in January. He said negotiations with the PIF were “accelerating” and that he believed forming an alliance with the Saudis, which could generate an investment worth up to $3 billion, was the best route to follow for the tour.

ESPN reported last week that a meeting between Al-Rumayyan and player managers was likely the next step in negotiations, according to sources.

After his tour on Friday, Spieth confirmed that player managers were “encouraged to potentially meet” with PIF officials, but declined to provide details.

“I think I can't say much more about it, but we're obviously encouraged, which I think is probably a good thing,” Spieth said. “The entire board should do this if there is potential for negotiation.”

Waiting for the Masters

Wyndham Clark has worked hard to be more confident, and a story he revealed Friday — that he had turned down two invitations to play at Augusta National Golf Club in the past — might be the best evidence of his newfound swagger.

“I kind of made a little pact with myself that I wouldn't go until I was eligible to play in the tournament,” Clark said.

By winning his first major championship at the Los Angeles County Club in June, Clark earned a five-year exemption for the Masters, PGA Championship and Open, as well as a 10-year exemption for the US Open.

Clark, 30, will make his Masters debut April 11-14. So last week he took a scouting trip to Augusta National Golf Club with his father and brother.

“It was a really cool trip because I went with my dad and my brother, who have never been there and so we went on a great trip with the Clark boys and it was very memorable,” Clark said. “It’s something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.”

Who is in and who is out

Min Woo Lee played in the final group with Scheffler on Sunday last year (he carded a 4-over 76 and finished tied for sixth), but he needed to make things happen on Friday on the back nine just to get himself. to qualify. After shooting a 1-over 73 in the first round, Lee was 2-over on the turn, which was worse than the projected cut line.

The Australian made birdies on numbers 10, 12, 15 and 17 to move to 2 under. He made a 60-footer for birdie on the iconic 17th. It was the second-longest putt on the island green hole since 2003; Jhonattan Vegas shot 69 ½ feet in 2019.

“I knew I had to make some birdies towards the end and I made some on the back nine,” Lee said. “I just missed a short putt on 16, so 17 was really nice.”

There were a handful of familiar names who missed the cut and won't be there this weekend, including Justin Thomas (1 over), Jordan Spieth (2 over), Matt Kuchar (2 over), Nick Dunlap (3 over ), Will Zalatoris (4 over), Keegan Bradley (7 over) and Justin Rose (3 over).