Draws & Fades: Beware stiff Scottie Scheffler as Wyndham Clark takes control at THE PLAYERS

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Defending U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark took full control of THE PLAYERS Championship in the second round at TPC Sawgrass, giving him one hand on the coveted gold trophy.

While there are still 36 holes to play at the PGA TOUR’s flagship event, Clark put up his second consecutive 7-under 65 to move to 14-under and a four-shot lead over Xander Schauffele (69) and Canadian Nick Taylor at 10-under.

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and American Maverick McNealy share fourth at 9-under while defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Canadian Corey Conners and course-record holder Tom Hoge are six shots off the pace.

Scheffler put a scare through TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course in the morning wave when he needed ongoing physiotherapy treatment on a neck complaint during his round. The world No. 1 still managed to post a 69 despite his issues.

The Texan hustled off post round for further treatment although was hopeful of being better for the third round.

“I hit a shot on my second hole today and I felt a little something in my neck, and then I tried to hit my tee shot on 12, and that's when I could barely get the club back," Scheffler said. "So, I got some treatment, maybe it loosened up a tiny bit, but most of the day I was pretty much laboring to get the club somehow away from me.

“I did what I could to kind of stay in the tournament today, and hopefully it'll loosen up and then I'll be able to make somewhat normal swings tomorrow. The way I was getting around the course, the way my neck was feeling, I didn't know if I was going to be able to continue playing, so yeah, good fight out there.”

Can anyone chase down Clark?

“When I've been out there, I've been really focused at what I'm trying to do,” Clark said.

“So, I haven't really been focused on anything else. I haven't been seeing any of the other noise, and I've just kind of been, all right, this is what we're doing.”

I will not add Clark in my draws and fades below – and here’s why. He should be able to win from here. He’s dominating the field in putting, and when he has done that over the last year, he’s won three times. He is also 10th in SG: Approach this week.

So, he is a theoretical draw, but his odds are so low at +160, that if you haven’t jumped on him before now, now is not the time to get on. Crazy things happen in golf, and risking money at short odds with 36 holes to go is a fool’s errand.

But I also won’t fade him, because I believe Clark is in rare form and won’t make the chase easy for the challengers. He’s already won this season after two wins last year and was runner-up a week ago.

Updated odds to win THE PLAYERS Championship (via BetMGM):

• +160: Wyndham Clark (-14)
• +550: Scottie Scheffler (-8), Xander Schauffele (-10)
• +1200: Nick Taylor (-10)
• +1400: Matt Fitzpatrick (-9)
• +2000: Rory McIlroy (-6)
• +2800: Corey Conners (-8), Tom Hoge (-8)
• +4000: Maverick McNealy (-9)

DRAWS

Nick Taylor +1200

Yesterday I had Taylor as a draw at +2500 and now he’s less than half that but I still like the Canadian that many others keep underestimating. Taylor loves the challenge of hunting big names and hates when people suggest he’s not one of them. The recent WM Phoenix Open winner also won the RBC Canadian Open last year, taking down Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood in those two efforts. Taylor ranks third in SG: Approach and 11th in SG: Putting this week. If you want to back a chaser, there is some value here.

“I said at the start of the week, a lot of times here I've had a lot of great rounds. I'm happy I've been able to piece together a couple nice ones,” Taylor said. “I feel like I'm learning to scale back at times and kind of play to my strength. I had to lay up on three of the par-5s today, made birdie on all three of those, so that was a nice bonus.”

Matt Fitzpatrick +1400

Like Clark, Fitzpatrick is a U.S. Open champion and it is the sort of play that wins there, that can win at TPC Sawgrass also. Ranked first in SG: Off the Tee, Fitzpatrick can get the ball out there with Clark and try to chip away at his lead. It’s a long climb, but if he can cut the deficit in half on Saturday, he’ll be a chance.

FADES

Scottie Scheffler +550

I’m doing it again. Fading Scheffler at the halfway point last week bit me square on the backside but this time hear me out. Scheffler is the same odds at +550 as he was at the start of the tournament, but now he’s six shots behind the current U.S. Open champion who is putting lights out. There is also the injury cloud over the world No. 1 which makes it tough to jump on him, even though a fit Scheffler has every chance of pulling closer to the lead. I guess I’m a little on the fence, but its buyer beware for sure. We can revisit tomorrow if he returns in full health.

Rory McIlroy +2000

We correctly faded McIlroy yesterday at +450 and despite being more than four times the odds he is a distant eight shots back and as such should be double this number! McIlroy is still playing well on approach, ranked ninth, but he’s wild off the tee and struggling around the greens. Short of a 63 tomorrow, the 2019 champion is done.