The Players: Wyndham Clark leads as Scottie Scheffler battles injury and Rory McIlroy struggles

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US Open champion Wyndham Clark built up a four-shot halfway lead at The Players, where Scottie Scheffler suffered an injury scare and Rory McIlroy failed to build on his strong opening round.

Clark, chasing a fourth win in 10 months on the PGA Tour, fired a second successive 65 at TPC Sawgrass to move to 14 under and with a commanding cushion over Xander Schauffele and Nick Taylor.

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick shares fourth with Maverick McNealy and Scheffler is a further stroke back as he looks to become the first back-to-back champion at The Players, with the world No 1 treated for a neck injury at various points of his second-round 69.

McIlroy – also starting in a share of the lead – slipped eight strokes off the pace after carding five birdies, four bogeys and a double-bogey in an erratic one-over 73, with the Northern Irishman declining the media post-round and immediately heading to the range after slipping back to six under.

How Clark took control at The Players

Clark – beginning on the back nine – took advantage of the par-five 11th and bounced back from a bogey at the 14th by rolling in from 20 feet at the par-three 17th, while Fitzpatrick edged ahead when he made four birdies in a six-hole stretch from the 16th.

Fitzpatrick lost ground with a double-bogey at the fourth, where he stuck his approach into the water, allowing Clark to jump four ahead when he made four consecutive birdies from the first and made a 20-foot birdie at the sixth.

Clark also birdied the ninth – his final hole of the day – to finish five ahead of the rest of the morning wave, with Fitzpatrick picking up a shot on the same par-five to close a second-round 69 and stay within five of the lead.

Schauffele appeared to be slipping out of contention when he triple-bogeyed the par-four 11th, although he bogeyed the next and eagled the 16th to join Nick Taylor within four of the lead.

Fitzpatrick shares fourth with Maverick McNealy, who posted a second-round 68, with Matt Schmid a further stroke back after a final-hole double-bogey dropped him back to eight under with Corey Conners and Scheffler.

Asked about trailing Clark by five shots, Fitzpatrick said: “Anything can happen over the weekend, there’s still two days, so you never know. So, for me it’s just about trying to stay patient, just keep doing what I’m doing and go from there.”

Scheffler feared he may be unable to continue when he received treatment on three successive holes, although the world No 1 mixed five birdies with two bogeys in an impressive show of resilience.

“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,” Scheffler said. “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.”

McIlroy’s hopes of a second Players title took a backwards step when he double-bogeyed the par-four 14th and then finished with four straight pars, having struggled with all facets of his game at various points during a disappointing second round.

Jason Day played his first 34 holes bogey-free but double-bogeyed the 17th to also drop back to six under with McIlroy, while Irish duo Shane Lowry and Seamus Power head into the weekend nine back after rounds of 70 and 69 respectively.

Viktor Hovland battled into the weekend on two under alongside Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott and Tommy Fleetwood, while Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose all missed the cut.

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