It's a three-way tie atop the leaderboard after 36 holes at the Wells Fargo Championship after Wyndham Clark, Tyrrell Hatton and Nate Lashley made moves during Friday's second round at Quail Hollow Club. This trio has combined for just two PGA Tour victories, but they all enter the weekend with a chance at making it one to remember with several pre-tournament favorites lurking.
But the first two days were not kind to all. Rory McIlroy, the winner of the Wells Fargo Championship the last time it was held at its traditional home of Quail Hollow in 2021, narrowly qualified for the weekend in his first event in approximately a month. Meanwhile, several major winners are among those headed home after failing to make the cut.
Let's take a deeper look at the leaders and other notables exiting the second round of one of the PGA Tour's designated events for the 2022-23 season.
The leaders
T1. Wyndham Clark, Tyrrell Hatton, Nate Lashley (-8)
Clark, Hatton and Lashley might not be the usual suspects, but those three lead the charge entering the weekend as golfers battle it out for a $3.6 million paycheck designated for the winner. Hatton's 6-under 65 -- the best Friday score of those three -- saw him birdie four of his first six holes on a back-nine start before giving a pair of strokes back with consecutive bogeys, but things heated up at the end. Fueled by a hot putter, Hatton played his final four holes of the day at 4 under, carding birdies on the par-4 6th and par-4th 9th while an eagle came on the par-5 7th.
"We holed some decent putts," Hatton said of his putting down the stretch. "Was it on No. 6? I would guess that was probably from about 30 [feet], 25 feet on No. 7 and then around 25-30 feet I think on No. 9. They're not the type of putts that you hole consistently, so to finish the round that way, I'm obviously very pleased with that."
Clark joined Hatton in carding an eagle on the par-5 7th, rebounding from a bogey on the par-4 6th as he carded a 4-under 67 to take a share of the 36-hole lead. For Lashley, it was clean play from start to end as he went bogey-free Friday en route to a 5-under 66. Lashley and Clark have safely navigated their way through the "Green Mile" stretch through two rounds, with Lashley even across Quail Hollow's formidable closing three holes -- all pars both days -- and Clark a combined 2 under.
"It's a different place," Lashley said. "Mindset [wise], you're trying to make pars out here a lot of times. The weather's been nice, so you can make some birdies. But I'm not the longest player, so I'm hitting a lot of long irons into these holes. I've hit some really good shots and had some good looks. If I can continue that, keep solid iron play, get the ball in the fairway, we'll see what happens."
On the theme of mindsets, Clark says that may just be the difference-maker for himself as he embarks on what he hopes is a strong weekend tied atop the leaderboard after 36 holes. Clark is seeking his first win on the PGA Tour with his best finish coming in second at the 2020 Bermuda Championship after losing a playoff.
"Mentally, I'm a lot stronger," Clark said. "I'm handling adversity, I'm handling success, I'm handling a lot of things a lot better and I'm more patient out there and more comfortable playing. In the past, I feel like I would get a little antsy and uncomfortable out there, and now I feel way more comfortable."
Rick Gehman is joined by Greg DuCharme to break down Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship. Who put themselves into position ahead of the weekend? It's storylines, scorecards and betting favorites. Follow & listen to The First Cut onApple PodcastsandSpotify.
Others in contention
T4. Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Adam Svensson, Justin Thomas (-7)
T10. Tommy Fleetwood, Michael Kim, K.H. Lee (-6)
Thomas put together a nice finish Friday to enter contention at Quail Hollow, the site of his first major title when he won the 2017 PGA Championship. With a back-nine start, Thomas birdied three of his final five holes to get a shot back of the leaders by the time his round concluded. Thomas, who seeks his first win since almost exactly a year ago at the 2022 PGA Championship, said knowledge of where to miss shots allowed him to take a more aggressive approach at times Friday.
"I know how to get around the course pretty well," Thomas said. "I think it's obviously different, but kind of similar to Augusta. I feel like if I'm not hitting it well, there's always a spot I have like I can kind of get it to. It's very difficult to chip around the greens, but again, just missing it in the right spots. ... I feel like I know that, and when I'm on, I feel like I can kind of be aggressive and attack and put it in good spots and, you know, be aggressive on my putts."
Schauffele led by a pair of strokes at 7 under deep into his opening round Thursday. His second round was relatively quiet before making some moves late. Schauffele, also starting on the back nine, played his 12 holes Friday at even par before birdies on the par-3 4th and par-5 7th moved him back to 7 under.
"[The course] is really hard," Schauffele said. "It doesn't matter if you hit it really far, you have to hit it in the fairway. It doesn't matter how good your short game is, you have to hit your spots pretty cleanly, for the most part, with the grain changes and whatnot. It doesn't matter how good of a putter you are because if you leave yourself in the wrong spot, you're going to be playing defense on the greens all day."
For Lee, sitting two strokes back of the leaders will sting a bit. He was in a prime chance to take the solo lead by the round's end after moving to 8 under with six holes left of the round, but he couldn't get over the hump. Lee carded five consecutive pars before trouble off the tee on the par-4 9th, his final hole of the day, led to a double-bogey 6 to put him 6 under for the tournament.
Max Homa lurking, other notables struggle
Don't dismiss Homa, who enters the weekend with plenty of momentum after a strong finish to his second round. The reigning Wells Fargo Championship winner was 1 over for the day after six holes before playing his final 12 holes at 5 under en route to a 4-under 67. Homa recorded four consecutive birdies from holes 13-16 before wrapping up final two holes of the "Green Mile" stretch with pars to sit three strokes back of the leaders at 5 under for the tournament.
While Homa surged Friday, other popular picks struggled in the second round. World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay failed to make any movement up the leaderboard, staying put at 4 under for the tournament after an even-par 71. And Cantlay had to grind some just to make that happen, sitting 3 over on the day after six holes. As for world No. 3 McIlroy, he narrowly snuck his way into the weekend, sitting on the cutline at 1 under for the tournament in his first event since missing the cut at The Masters.
Two of the notable names heading home this weekend include world No. 14 Collin Morikawa (+4) and world No. 10 Jordan Spieth (+7). Troubles for Spieth snowballed starting on the final hole of the first round, playing his final 19 holes a combined 9 over after sitting 2 under on the 18th tee box Thursday. Spieth carded a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 18th Thursday before a 6-over 77 for the second round sealed his fate.
