Champ Schauffele Strikes Again with Stunning 65 at Stunning 65!
Xander Schauffele hit all 14 fairways and matched his career best at the Players with a 65 to be the clubhouse leader
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — You don't have to be a stats nerd to answer the following question: How will your round go if you hit 14 of 14 fairways, 16 of 18 greens, and then gain about 1. 5 strokes on the field putting? The answer is, you're going to have a good day, and so it was for Xander Schauffele, who posted a current tournament-best seven-under 65 to take the Players Championship lead as play continued on Friday afternoon.
"It's always easy to be aggressive from the fairway here," Schauffele said of the location he spent plenty of time in. "There's quite a few wedges if you're able to hit it in some sort of tight spots, which we were able to do today. Might as well take advantage of the greens being just a hair softer.
" Of note, the World No. 10 entered the week ranked 133rd on the tour in driving accuracy at 55. 16 percent.
(For what it's worth, the news keeps getting better for Schauffele—as the weather heats up in the afternoon; he and other players remarked that the greens were firming up. ) Schauffele's round didn't exactly start gangbusters. Playing the back nine first, he made an easy birdie on 11, but gave it away two holes later on the par-3 13th, three-putting from 21 feet.