6H AGO
Highlights | Round 2 | THE PLAYERS | 2026
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Written by Paul Hodowanic
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Scheffler and McIlroy haven’t delivered, however nearly each different huge identify has. We’ll get to the leaders, however first …
Back in December, Jordan Spieth informed me one thing that has rattled round in my mind since: “I haven’t swung it well for the better part of 10 years,” he stated throughout our dialog at the Hero World Challenge.
Spieth admitted it within the context of lastly being wholesome, the primary time he’s actually felt 100% in a decade. That allowed him to get his arms deeper in his backswing, a place he hasn’t reached since his peak years when he rattled off majors at a clip that had Tiger Woods comparisons feeling affordable. That had him assured and even giddy about his potential.
I’ve been ready for Spieth to pop ever since.
That pop got here Friday (type of) … in probably the most Spieth manner doable. And in basic kind, I missed it. I started my day with Spieth, hoping for fireworks. I suppose I can’t complain as a result of I obtained some, albeit not those I anticipated. In his first gap, the tenth, Spieth drove it straight into the steep financial institution of the left fairway bunker, obtained a drop, took a baseball swing with the ball that led to a greenside bunker, flubbed that shot, after which almost jarred one other for a rollercoaster bogey. But he performed a fairly boring subsequent 5 holes and I left him throughout the sixteenth gap.
He rattled off 5 straight birdies and by the point I made it again, he had stopped making them for the day. Instead, I watched extra wild scrambling – some profitable and a few disastrous. He made an unbelievable par on the sixth after driving it manner left and hitting a tree along with his strategy. It was the continuation of luck that included fortuitous bounces on the 18th and second holes that led to birdies.
His luck ran out on the ninth, his final gap of the day. Spieth drove it properly left and up in opposition to a tree, forcing a brief punch out. His third shot went left once more, prompting him to his provisional. The adventures continued till he lastly signed for a double bogey, the second time in as many days he’s closed with a double bogey and ruined a gradual spherical.
“It’s not quite there yet, but it’s like close enough to where I can do what I did today for a while,” Spieth stated.
That means Spieth can be tantalizing and a bit maddening for now. There’s nice golf in there. There are additionally nonetheless just a few too many errors. I used to be current for extra of the previous than the latter. He’s thrown away 4 strokes on the final gap of his final two rounds. That’s the distinction between twenty third and sixth.
“I’m doing everything well. The stats aren’t necessarily showing exactly how solid things are,” Spieth stated.
These wild swings aren’t new for Spieth. It’s been a characteristic, not a bug, for his entire profession. But Spieth additionally hasn’t been as assured as he’s proper now for a very long time. That portends good issues.
I’m already speaking myself into going out with him once more on Saturday morning.
- Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler will play the weekend, however
- Here are the full highlights from Round 2 …
- I’ve no phrases for Tom Hoge’s quintuple bogey on the seventh gap. Would advocate watching that here …
- There have been 5 balls within the water at the seventeenth on Friday. Here’s how the iconic hole played in the second round …
Flash again to the top of 2024, and Saturday’s ultimate pairing of Ludvig Åberg and Xander Schauffele would have shocked only a few folks. But it’s a light shock to see these two at the highest of the leaderboard proper now. Neither has utterly fallen on laborious occasions, however neither has skilled a lot true rivalry for a few 12 months. Åberg, after a notable stint as a top-five participant, has dropped outdoors the highest 20 on this planet rating. Schauffele sits tenth on this planet, close to his lowest rank since 2022.
It’s additionally objectively nice that these two are discovering their video games.
When proper, each can threaten the extent of Scheffler and McIlroy. Schauffele did it when he received two majors in 2024, and Åberg has confirmed he can contend in majors in opposition to them. They don’t have both Scheffler or McIlroy inside earshot of them this 12 months, however each would make a compelling case that they should be the primary golfer proper behind them in the event that they win this 12 months.
Åberg shot 9-under 63, only one off the course report, and he leads the match outright at 12-under. Schauffele fired a 65 to get to 10-under, two strokes again. The studs don’t cease after the ultimate group. The remainder of the highest 5 embrace Cameron Young, Justin Thomas and Corey Conners.
It’s going to be a terrific weekend.
- Keegan Bradley is still not over the Ryder Cup loss, and it’s a part of the explanation he’s began the season slowly. “Trying my best to separate myself and move on, but it’s hard. I think about it a lot,” he stated. Bradley has three missed cuts in 5 begins, however he shot 66 on Friday to make the weekend right here.
- The Michael Thorbjornsen increase is coming. The former world beginner No. 1 shot 65 to leap right into a tie for tenth. He ranks inside the highest 10 this week in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green. If the putter cooperates over the ultimate 36 holes, he must be within the combine.
- Pierceson Coody’s 83 can be misplaced to historical past. But anytime you handle to card a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and eight on a single scorecard, you’re going to get a point out from me.
- Second-round chief Ludvig Åberg made two eagles – that is proper, two – on the entrance 9 at TPC Sawgrass. That brings the Morgan Stanley Eagles for Impact donations as much as $125,000.
- Hideki Matsuyama is your TOURCAST Range Rat! Matsuyama hit 108 balls, probably the most of any participant on Friday. No different participant reached 100 balls hit.
