Rory McIlroy's bid for a second Players Championship victory suffered a potentially fatal blow as Scottie Scheffler played through the pain barrier to keep his hopes of an historic title defence alive.
McIlroy held a share of the overnight lead following an opening 65 at Sawgrass, but could only add a second round of 73 to slump eight shots behind US Open champion Wyndham Clark.
An erratic start saw McIlroy card three birdies and three bogeys in the first six holes and, after reaching the turn in 35 with a birdie on the ninth, the world number two bogeyed the 12th, birdied the 13th and double-bogeyed the next in a frustrating inward nine of 38.
Clark, who pipped McIlroy to the US Open crown in LA Country Club last June, leads by four strokes heading into the weekend after carding a second successive 65 at the famous Pete Dye designed layout.
The 30-year old Ryder Cup player made eight birdies – including five in six holes around the turn – to end the day four shots clear of Olympic champion Xander Schauffele and Canada's Nick Taylor, with Matt Fitzpatrick and Maverick McNealy another stroke back.
"My iron play's been very solid, I’ve rolled in a handful of putts and then I’ve really been mentally strong so I’d say all of those things are why I’m sitting where I am right now," Clark said.
World No. 1 Scheffler, a dominant winner in Bay Hill last Sunday, is tied-sixth on eight-under after undergoing physio treatment on his neck midway through his second round.
"I hit a shot on my second hole today and I felt a little something in my neck," Scheffler, who had started from the 10th hole, explained.
"Then I tried to hit my tee shot on 12 and that's when I could barely get the club back. So I got some treatment, maybe it loosened up a tiny bit, but most of the day I was pretty much labouring to get the club somehow away from me.
"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.
"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, so yeah, good fight out there."
Scheffler, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five shots on Sunday, is bidding to become the first player to successfully defend the Players Championship title in its 50-year history.
A strong finish to his second round saw Shane Lowry ensure his presence at the weekend, the 2019 Open champion birdieing three of his final five holes to post a round of 70 and reach three-under par.
With the projected cut currently running at one-under par, Lowry, who began on the back nine, was flirting with danger after bogeys at the 12th and 4th holes to sit on even par heading down the closing stretch.
However, he drained a timely 35ft birdie putt on the 5th, backing it up with a stellar approach into 8ft for another birdie at the 6th.
Lowry then cracked his tee shot at the long par-3 8th into 8ft, sinking the putt to get to three-under and a tie for 31st by the close of his round.
Joining him on three-under is compatriot Seamus Power, who carded a 69 on Day 2.
Beginning the day at even par, Power hit a hot streak midway through his round, registering three birdies in five holes between the 6th and 10th.
He climbed to four-under par with a birdie at the famous 17th hole, firing his iron into 10ft at the island green and draining the putt.
However, the two-time PGA Tour winner finished his round on a bum note after finding the pine needles off the tee at 18 and missing the green to the right. Despite a fine recovery pitch, Power missed a short putt for par and had to settle for 69, lying 11 shots adrift of leader Clark.
With additional reporting: PA
Follow the RTÉ Sport WhatsApp channel for the best news, interviews, analysis and features, as well as details of our sports coverage across all RTÉ platforms.
