Wyndham Clark lapped by low scores, sets up packed Sunday at THE PLAYERS

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The groans reverberated through an eerily quiet scene at the 17th hole. The sellout Saturday crowd was stunned, unsure of what they just saw. Wyndham Clark was, too.

On a day when low scores reigned, Clark's miscue – a chunked wedge on the famed island hole that landed halfway between the tee box and the green – defined it. It was the moment the roars stopped, and THE PLAYERS Championship officially became anyone’s game again.

“I really wish I could just take back a few shots,” Clark said. “...I think you’re going to have one poor round and hopefully this was my poor round.”

The immediate implications are the same whether Clark follows it with a 65 or a 75. This PLAYERS Championship will not be a runaway. It looked like it may be at the halfway mark, as Clark held a four-shot advantage after 36 holes, the second-largest in this tournament’s history. Considering Clark’s recent record in the game’s biggest events – a win at the U.S. Open and two Signature Events in the past 12 months – it seemed he was set to establish himself as a seemingly unstoppable force with a potential rout.

That is no longer the case. Clark extended his lead to five shots with his birdie at Saturday’s opening hole, but he will start Sunday one shot behind leader Xander Schauffele.

Clark stayed in neutral for the remainder of the day, firing a 2-under 70 while 32 players shot 69 or lower in ideal scoring conditions. Schauffele, who played alongside Clark in Saturday’s final group, shot 65 to vault into the solo lead at 17-under. Brian Harman carded a tournament-low 64. He is 15-under par and alone in third. Seven players are within five shots of the lead, including four major champions.

None of it happens without Clark opening the door, which began long before he reached the par-3 17th. The third-round scoring average (70.3) was nearly two shots lower than the previous day’s (72.2) and featured six rounds of 66 or better. As Clark’s lead slipped away, Harman, Matt Fitzpatrick (13-under) and Sahith Theegala (12-under) all carded back-nine 31s. Scottie Scheffler (12-under) birdied his final three holes to keep alive his hopes of being this tournament’s first back-to-back champ, and Maverick McNealy (13-under) chipped in on back-to-back holes.

Clark, though, couldn’t keep the pace after the back-to-back 65s he notched in the first two rounds. Schauffele was within one stroke when the final group made the turn. He went out in 32 to Clark’s 35, gaining two shots after Clark bogeyed the par-3 eighth and parred the par-5 ninth. The lead was gone after Clark found the water with his tee shot on the drivable par-4 12th. Clark got up and down for par, but Schauffele made birdie to tie the lead. Schauffele took the outright lead two holes later when he canned a 58-foot birdie on the 14th, while Clark missed his 12-footer to match.

Then came the chunk.

Debating with his caddie, John Ellis, Clark thought the 123-yard shot called for a full sand wedge into the island green. Ellis thought he needed to take something off of it to avoid the ball staying on the top shelf.

“As I was over the ball, I kind of got to the top and I was like, ‘Take a little off,’ and then I just kind of deceled and chunked it,” Clark said. “It wasn't really a lack of focus or anything. It just was honestly a poor swing.”

Clark told Golf Channel: “I just hope my mind is a little more focused tomorrow. I was a little aloof today.”

That Clark is just one shot back and in the final group is a testament to his mental strength, which was illustrated most vividly with his bogey save at 17. He hit his second attempt at the island green from the same tee box and knocked it to 7 feet. He made the putt to escape with a bogey and made par on the 18th to earn a spot in the final group.

He will play alongside Schauffele, whom Clark also played with when he earned his maiden PGA TOUR title at last year’s Wells Fargo Championship. Much has changed since then. Clark was ranked 80th in the world and had held a 54-hole lead just once before. He’s won two other times since, played in a Ryder Cup and is now No. 5 in the Official World Golf Rankings after last week’s runner-up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. That result allowed Clark to pass Schauffele in the world ranking for the first time. Schauffele, on the other hand, is searching for his first win since the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open.

Schauffele will have to contend with a packed and loaded leaderboard. The last two major champions – Clark and Harman – are his closest chasers. Fitzpatrick, the 2022 U.S. Open champ, is four shots back. Scheffler is 12-under and five back despite dealing with a nagging neck injury. Theegala, the reiging Fortinent Championship winner, is also five back.

That’s the way it should be at THE PLAYERS Championship. TPC Sawgrass' Stadiunm Course is known as a course that any type of player can have success on. The smattering of styles atop the 54-hole leaderboard backs it up.

And it’s anybody’s game. Thank Saturday’s craziness for that.