March 13, 2026; Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA; Xander Schauffele hits his approach shot on the 18th hole during the second round of THE PLAYERS Championship Golf Tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Romance-Imagn Images PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Two-time major champion Xander Schauffele finished the second round of the Players Championship on Friday with birdies on the final two holes to take an early one-shot lead.
The world’s No. 10 player, who began his second round on the back nine, rolled a 38-foot putt on the par-3 eighth hole, then went up and down just in front of the green on the par-5 ninth hole for a sparkling 7-under 65 at TPC Sawgrass for a total of 10-under 134.
Schoffeli was one stroke ahead of Cameron Young, who hit 67 with six birdies.
Canada’s Corey Conners, who eagled the par-5 9th hole en route to a 67, was once again at 8 under par. Austria’s Sepp Straka, 70, one of five players tied for the lead at the end of the weather-delayed first round on Friday morning, was alone in fourth place at 7 under par.
“It’s always easy to play aggressive from the fairways here,” said Schauffele, who hit all 14 fairways on a sunny day at TPC Sawgrass. “If you can hit it in the tight spots we were able to do today, you’ve got a pretty good number of wedges. You might be better off taking advantage of the fact that the green is just a hair softer, but it looks like it’s slowly getting harder.”
Schaupele, who has 10 PGA Tour wins and the 2024 PGA Championship and Open Championship, is looking for his first win this year.
“I’m definitely hitting a lot of good golf shots,” said the 32-year-old, who had his best performance of the season with a runner-up finish at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month. “The 2024 season has been a year full of really good results. Right now, I think we’re just trying to focus a little bit more on the process and making sure things sort of settle down and we’re in the right place, and then go and compete.”
World No. 2 and defending champion Rory McIlroy had another frustrating day after shooting a 1-under 71, nearly forcing him to withdraw from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational due to a back injury.
The Northern Ireland native arrived on the course the day before the tournament without even playing a practice round and opened with a 74 on Thursday. He recorded 1 over par 145 strokes with 3 birdies and 2 bogeys in the second round, landing only one stroke within the expected cut line.
“I wish I was higher up there,” McIlroy said after finishing his round with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 ninth hole. “I felt like I played well enough today to get on the leaderboard. I couldn’t drop a putt. I felt like I hit the ball a little better today than I did yesterday, so hopefully I’ve done enough to get me two more days into the weekend.”
When asked how his back was holding up, McIlroy responded, “I feel it almost. Not all, but it seems to be getting progressively better every day.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, seeking his third win at the Players Championship, was one of the late starters after opening with an even-par 72 on Friday.
-Mark Lamport-Stokes, Field Level Media
