Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Åberg take control at The Players as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy struggle

Jay Busbee Fri, March 13, 2026 at 11:55 PM UTC

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Ludvig Åberg holds a two-shot lead over the field at the midway point at TPC Sawgrass. (Eston Parker/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images) (Eston Parker/ISI Photos via Getty Images)

Anyone wanting to win The Players Championship this year really needed to take advantage of the scoring conditions the first couple of days … because the guys that did have put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field.

Two Ryder Cup stars who have struggled a bit in recent months top the tournament’s midpoint leaderboard: Ludvig Åberg at 12-under and Xander Schauffele at 10-under. They put themselves in double figures below par the same way: torrents of red numbers. Schauffele carded eight birdies in a 7-under round, while Åberg threw down two eagles and finished birdie-birdie to close with a 63, one off the TPC Sawgrass course record.

“Definitely for the most part I felt like I was in control,” Schauffele said, “felt like I was attacking the golf course versus playing defensive.” Schauffele hit all 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation, a nice throwback to the 2024 season when he won his two majors.

That season, Schauffele noted, “was a year full of really good results, and right now I think we're a little bit more focused on the process bit of it, and trying to make sure things are sort of ironed out and in a decent spot.”

Åberg has also slipped a bit from the highs of 2024, when he recorded a solo second and a T12 in the first Masters and U.S. Open he played. On Friday, he torched the front nine with a 29, and lasted all the way until the 15th before carding his first bogey — the last man in the field to record one.

Also high on the leaderboard: Cam Young (-9), Corey Conners (-8), Sepp Straka (-7) and Justin Thomas, the 2021 champion. Thomas needed just three rounds to get back to his low-scoring ways after a long injury layoff, and capped a second strong day with this kick-in eagle:

The two most recent champions struggled for a second straight day and flirted with the cut line. Rory McIlroy needed a clutch birdie at the ninth hole, his 18th of the day, to get to 1-over and stay safely inside the 2-over cut line.

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“I'm happy to be here for the weekend. I'm happy to get two more runs at it,” McIlroy said. “It would have sucked to be going home this afternoon, so to hang around and hopefully play two more days, that's a win.”

Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, struggled all afternoon, still unable to find fairways and letting his frustration bubble over throughout the day:

Scheffler bogeyed 14 and 16 to put himself right on the cut line with two holes to play. Time to start asking questions? Not yet, but it’s time to start thinking about when it will be time.

Toughest hole of the day belonged to Tom Hoge, who had a quintuple (!) bogey at the seventh hole that looked eminently relatable for pretty much anyone who’s ever attempted to play golf:

Saturday and early Sunday are projected to be sunny and rain-free, meaning the already treacherous TPC Sawgrass greens will only get slicker. That leaves Schauffele and Åberg in a good position, though by no means a safe one.

“We had sort of the easier wave yesterday with a little bit of rain, and then it softened the course,” Schauffele said. “Today the greens were firming up a little bit. I think the course is just going to get firmer and firmer and firmer as long as we don't get any more rain.”

The Players continues Saturday and wraps up Sunday.

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Source: “AOL Sports”