Heading to the weekend at the sixth designated event of the year, the leaderboard is packed with the best players in the world.
And then there’s Jimmy Walker. Yeah, the guy whose last win came at the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol. The guy who nearly stopped playing professional golf carded matching 65s to open at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and he leads by three at Harbour Town Golf Links heading to the weekend.
However, World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose are tied for second, three shots back. Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Cantlay are at 8 under. Defending champion Jordan Spieth is at 7 under, and Masters champion Jon Rahm tied the round of the day Friday to move back into contention.
If the leaderboard is any indication, the weekend should be spectacular. Here’s some takeaways from Friday’s second round at the RBC Heritage.
Here comes Rahmbo
Safe to say Rahm found his groove.
He started slow Thursday, firing a 1-over 72, but he bounced back in a big way Friday morning. Playing with Spieth and Adam Scott, Rahm fired a 7-under 64 to vault into the top 20 heading into the weekend.
Jon Rahm’s eight-stroke improvement from an opening-round 72 to a second-round 64 is the biggest improvement from round one to two in his PGA TOUR career.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) April 14, 2023
And his group got off to a quick start.
After fives holes, the trio had 12 birdies combined. Rahm, Spieth and Scott were each 4 under after their first five holes on the back nine. Spieth finished at 4-under 67 and is at 7 under overall. Scott, with two doubles on the card, also signed for a 67 and is at 5 under, one back of Rahm.
“It’s pretty funny, I told Adam after we birdied 12, ‘Man, I’m the bad player in this group, 2-under through three,'” Rahm said. “I didn’t think I’d be last in the group, but then I followed it up with two more.
“That start was obviously key. Took advantage of some holes that were playing — not that any hole is easy out here, but with the proper tee shots, they were very doable. Took advantage of that and was able to finish it off.”
Rahm said he’s not feeling as well as he’d like to be, coming off his Masters victory last week, but he’s well within striking distance heading into the weekend. Spieth was six strokes behind with 18 holes to play Sunday and won last year.
“Hopefully it can keep getting a little bit better,” Rahm said. “Glad it was a morning round today because I can get some lunch and rest the rest of the afternoon and be fresh for tomorrow.”
Scottie Scheffler is resilient
Had Scheffler’s putter not been colder than an Antarctic winter at the Masters, it’s likely he would’ve been battling with Rahm and Brooks Koepka on Sunday.
However, Scheffler couldn’t buy a putt to try to defend his title. Yet he managed to finish T-10 thanks to spectacular ball striking.
Through two rounds at Harbour Town this week, Scheffler has gained 3.117 strokes on the greens, good for 15th in the field. Safe to say he has figured something out because he’s again near the top of the leaderboard.
Scheffler played early Friday and carded 6-under 65 after an opening 68. He’s tied for second at 9 under with Schauffele and Rose, who has opened with rounds of 66 and 67 in his 400th PGA Tour start.
“I was just trying to keep plucking along and doing what I can control,” Scheffler said. “Just trying to play solid golf.”
And he’s doing just that. He started on the 10th and birdied two of his first three holes before a bogey on 13. He added two more birdies, turning in 3-under 32, and then he got to the par-5 second hole, where he chipped in for eagle. Add another birdie, and he’s within striking distance for his third victory this season heading to the weekend.
“I feel like I put myself in a few spots this week that haven’t been great,” Scheffler said. “But outside of that, I’ve played a lot of solid golf.”
A week ahead of title defense, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay are in the hunt
Next week at the Zurich Classic, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele will aim to defend their title. Yet this week, both players find themselves in the top 5 heading to the weekend.
Cantlay’s round was highlighted by his ace on the seventh, but he’s at 8 under and T-5. Schauffele, meanwhile, shot 5-under 66, including a birdie on the 18th hole, to move into a tie for second.
Schauffele is fourth in Strokes Gained for the week and sixth in approach, one of the keys to be successful at Harbour Town. He had two birdies and an eagle in his first five holes. On the back nine, he had three birdies and two bogeys.
“Fortunately finished up on top,” Schauffele said. “A few hiccups there in the middle of the round, just one really bad tee shot and one unfortunate sort of short par miss and was happy to bounce back quickly and pick up a couple other birdies coming in.”
Last year, Schauffele won the Travelers Championship and Genesis Scottish Open after his victory at the Zurich Classic. He tied for third at the American Express and T-10 last week at the Masters. A win this week would be his fourth in a year’s span.
The only person with more in that span? Rahm, who has five.
It’s also Schauffele’s 22nd straight made cut, which is the longest streak on Tour.
Aaron Rai stalls after holding early lead
Aaron Rai played 21 holes Friday at Harbour Town.
Because of a weather delay during the first round, Rai was in one of the few groups who had to come back early and finish his first round Friday morning. He ended up making birdie on two of his final three holes to hold the first-round lead at 8 under.
However, his next 18 holes, Rai was stuck in neutral. He shot even-par 71 in the second round, which included an eagle and a birdie but three bogeys.
“Struggled a little bit this afternoon,” Rai said. “Didn’t quite play as well tee-to-green, didn’t quite roll it as well on the green. Yeah, it was a tricky day. Could have been a little bit better, but also could have been a little bit worse.”
Rai had a viral moment at the Players when he aced the par-3 17th. His best finish this season is a T-7 at the Cadence Bank Houston Open.
Heading to the weekend, Rai said he played tight during his second round, something he knows needs to change down the stretch.
“I played a little freer yesterday than I did today,” Rai said. “So I think, if I can kind of stick to the strategy and just kind of get out of my own way a little bit, then I’ll give myself a good chance to play some good golf this weekend.
“That’s the plan, and we’ll see what happens.”
Ben Griffin goes low
To those who have followed the PGA Tour this season, seeing Ben Griffin’s name on a leaderboard shouldn’t be a surprise.
He shot 5-under 67 in the opening round of the Players Championship and has been near the top of leaderboard in others week, too, including a T-3 finish at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. He has six top-25 finishes, but putting four consistent rounds together hasn’t come.
After his second round at Harbour Town, he’s hoping to continue his rhythm into the weekend.
Griffin had a chance to match Rahm’s 64 for low round of the day, but he narrowly missed a par putt on 18 and sits at 7 under heading to the weekend, five shots behind Walker. He had six birdies in his opening nine holes and added one on the back to vault up the leaderboard, but the closing bogey had him sign for a 6-under 65.
