It is time for Xander Schauffele to win a big-time occasion. The 30-year-old has 11 prime 10s in main championship and a T2 at The Gamers Championship however not one of the 5 greatest titles on his resume. He’s, ostensibly, the most effective gamers of his technology, however laying declare to that title with none of the trophies to again it up is generally meaningless.
Schauffele shot an insane 65 on Saturday by which he was solely common from tee to inexperienced. Most of his injury was completed on and across the greens, highlighted by this 58-foot birdie putt on the par-4 14th, which helped him get to 17 beneath and leap previous 36-hole chief Wyndham Clark.
However Schauffele has not all the time been the best nearer. Whereas his document of successful twice with six 54-hole PGA Tour leads will not be dangerous, his play in these remaining spherical has been shaky. With a one-stroke lead over the reigning U.S. Open champion and three different main winners simply behind Clark, there will not be a lot room for error on Sunday. Schauffele might want to maintain the pedal down.
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The discuss in golf circles for years has been that Xander is That Man. No holes within the recreation (empirically true), and also you simply cannot match the way in which he will get round golf programs. However to be That Man, one has to have These Wins, and The Gamers can be an ideal begin for a man who has arguably been the second-best participant on the earth to Scottie Scheffler this 12 months.
It is time for Schauffele to win his large occasion. He is hitting it nice, Clark did not run away Saturday, and every thing has arrange for Xander to go and get it completed. Now, the onerous half: getting it completed.
If Schauffele (+130) does not win — and Information Golf says there’s a 52% likelihood he is not going to — listed below are the gamers who’re more than likely to surpass him.
1. Wyndham Clark (-16): Saturday was a conflict for the U.S. Open champion. He labored from tee to inexperienced however someway squeezed a 70 out of the spherical to present himself an opportunity Sunday. His most spectacular second could have been making 4 on the par-3 seventeenth after hitting fairly probably the worst tee shot I’ve ever seen about 20 yards in need of the island inexperienced. Clark confirmed on the U.S. Open that he is about as gritty and hard as they arrive, and he will be an actual drawback for Schauffele, who has had hassle closing out leads. Clark, alternatively, has been superior when he is been within the prime two on the leaderboard after 54 holes. Odds: +300
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2. Brian Harman (-14): I like watching Harman go to work. He performed the final two days in 15 beneath with 17 birdies and an eagle (which is insane). Solely a gap 72 is protecting him from being on the prime of this leaderboard together with Schauffele and Clark. He can completely run them down, although, and has the perfect likelihood to take action of all of the chasers. One factor we find out about Harman is that he isn’t going to be scared with the chips down, and after watching him go 65-64 during the last two days, he may really be the one to observe on Sunday. Odds: +550
3. Matt Fitzpatrick (-13): Fitzpatrick battled so onerous after a sluggish begin in Spherical 3, getting again to a spot the place he may at the least threaten the highest of the board. He birdied 4 of his final 5 holes; the one one he did not is the best gap on the course this week! I like how he is hitting it (No. 1 in driving), however I do not like that he is down 4 to one of many 5 finest gamers on the earth. Odds: +1400
4. Scottie Scheffler (-12): The world’s No. 1 participant has been coping with a neck harm for a lot of the week. Regardless of that, he is nonetheless — considerably extremely — prime 5 on this discipline from tee to inexperienced. The issue for Scheffler will not be that he cannot exit and shoot 66 on Sunday. It is that he is 5 again getting into, and it is unlikely that each Clark and Schauffele are going to play poorly sufficient within the remaining spherical for Scheffler to win his second Gamers in a row. Odds: +1100
5. Sahith Theegala (-12): Theegala was electrical on Saturday, charging house onerous and capturing a best-ball 59 along with his taking part in associate, Harman. Each he and Scheffler — despite the fact that they’re within the prime 5 — must be considering 64 or higher to win the event. That is going to be enjoyable as a result of they’re each able to it, however the odds of it taking place with the caliber of participant forward of them will not be excessive. Odds: +3500
6. Maverick McNealy (-13): I typically love McNealy, and he is a ton of enjoyable to observe. However the way in which he is doing it’s not sustainable. He gained almost six strokes across the greens on Saturday and holed out from everywhere in the yard. That will not occur once more, and he is prone to fall off the tempo. No one on the prime of this board is hitting worse strategy pictures than he’s up to now this week. Odds: +2800
Rick Gehman and Greg DuCharme recap the second spherical of The Gamers Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Observe & hearken to The First Lower on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.