2023 Wells Fargo Championship leaderboard: Three-way tie at the top with Justin Thomas lurking after Round 2

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 strikes all the way through Friday’s 2d spherical at Quail Hollow Club. This trio has blended for simply two PGA Tour victories, however all of them input the weekend with a possibility at making it one to keep in mind with a number of pre-tournament favorites lurking. 

But the first two days weren’t type to all. Rory McIlroy, the winner of the Wells Fargo Championship the closing time it used to be held at its conventional house of Quail Hollow in 2021, narrowly certified for the weekend in his first match in roughly a month. Meanwhile, a number of primary winners are amongst the ones headed house after failing to make the lower. 

Let’s take a deeper glance at the leaders and different notables exiting the 2d spherical of certainly one of the PGA Tour’s designated occasions for the 2022-23 season.

The leaders

T1. Wyndham Clark, Tyrrell Hatton, Nate Lashley (-8)

Clark, Hatton and Lashley is probably not the same old suspects, however the ones 3 lead the rate getting into the weekend as golfers fight it out for a $3.6 million paycheck designated for the winner. Hatton’s 6-under 65 — the perfect Friday ranking of the ones 3 — noticed him birdie 4 of his first six holes on a back-nine get started prior to giving a couple of strokes again with consecutive bogeys, however issues heated up at the finish. Fueled through a scorching putter, Hatton performed his ultimate 4 holes of the day at 4 below, carding birdies on the par-4 sixth and par-4th ninth whilst an eagle got here on the par-5 seventh. 

“We holed some decent putts,” Hatton mentioned of his placing 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 seventh, rebounding from a bogey on the par-4 sixth as he carded a 4-under 67 to take a proportion of the 36-hole lead. For Lashley, it used to be blank play from begin to finish as he went bogey-free Friday en path to a 5-under 66. Lashley and Clark have safely navigated their means thru the “Green Mile” stretch thru two rounds, with Lashley even throughout Quail Hollow’s ambitious last 3 holes — all pars each days — and Clark a blended 2 below. 

“It’s a different place,” Lashley mentioned. “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 can simply be the difference-maker for himself as he embarks on what he hopes is a sturdy weekend tied atop the leaderboard after 36 holes. Clark is looking for his first win on the PGA Tour with his perfect end coming in 2d at the 2020 Bermuda Championship after shedding a playoff. 

“Mentally, I’m a lot stronger,” Clark mentioned. “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 through Greg DuCharme to wreck down Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship. Who put themselves into place forward of the weekend? It’s storylines, scorecards and making a bet favorites. Follow & concentrate to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Others in competition 

T4. Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Adam Svensson, Justin Thomas (-7)

T10. Tommy Fleetwood, Michael Kim, Ok.H. Lee (-6) 

Thomas put in combination a pleasing end Friday to go into competition at Quail Hollow, the web site of his first primary name when he gained the 2017 PGA Championship. With a back-nine get started, Thomas birdied 3 of his ultimate 5 holes to get a shot again of the leaders through the time his spherical concluded. Thomas, who seeks his first win since nearly precisely a yr in the past at the 2022 PGA Championship, mentioned wisdom of the place to omit pictures allowed him to take a extra competitive means at instances Friday. 

“I know how to get around the course pretty well,” Thomas mentioned. (*2*) 

Schauffele led through a couple of strokes at 7 below deep into his opening spherical Thursday. His 2d spherical used to be fairly quiet prior to making some strikes past due. Schauffele, additionally beginning on the again 9, performed his 12 holes Friday at even par prior to birdies on the par-3 4th and par-5 seventh moved him again to 7 below. 

“[The course] is really hard,” Schauffele mentioned. “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 again of the leaders will sting a bit of. He used to be in a first-rate likelihood to take the solo lead through the spherical’s finish after shifting to eight below with six holes left of the spherical, however he could not recover from the hump. Lee carded 5 consecutive pars prior to bother off the tee on the par-4 ninth, his ultimate gap of the day, ended in a double-bogey 6 to position him 6 below for the event. 

Max Homa lurking, different notables fight

Don’t brush aside Homa, who enters the weekend with various momentum after a robust end to his 2d spherical. The reigning Wells Fargo Championship winner used to be 1 over for the day after six holes prior to enjoying his ultimate 12 holes at 5 below en path to a 4-under 67. Homa recorded 4 consecutive birdies from holes 13-16 prior to wrapping up ultimate two holes of the “Green Mile” stretch with pars to sit down 3 strokes again of the leaders at 5 below for the event. 

While Homa surged Friday, different fashionable alternatives struggled in the 2d spherical. World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay didn’t make any motion up the leaderboard, staying put at 4 below for the event after an even-par 71. And Cantlay needed to grind some simply to make that occur, sitting 3 over on the day after six holes. As for global No. 3 McIlroy, he narrowly snuck his means into the weekend, sitting on the cutline at 1 below for the event in his first match since lacking the lower at The Masters. 

Two of the notable names heading house this weekend come with global No. 14 Collin Morikawa (+4) and global No. 10 Jordan Spieth (+7). Troubles for Spieth snowballed beginning on the ultimate gap of the first spherical, enjoying his ultimate 19 holes a blended 9 over after sitting 2 below on the 18th tee field Thursday. Spieth carded a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 18th Thursday prior to a 6-over 77 for the 2d spherical sealed his destiny.