Xander Schauffele opens up four-shot lead on Rory McIlroy at Wells Fargo

Xander Schauffele has stretched into a commanding lead with 36 holes to play at the Wells Fargo Championship.

11 May 2024

Xander Schauffele carded a second-round 4-under 67 to vault into a commanding four-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Jason Day at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.

Schauffele, 30, bogeyed the par-4 18th to post a 36-hole lead score of 11-under par.

The World No.4 is looking to win his eighth title on the PGA Tour and his first since the Genesis Scottish Open in just shy of two years.

Schauffele will have plenty of work left to do over the weekend if he is to get the job done, however, especially with record three-time winner Rory McIlroy in a tie for second alongside Jason Day on 7-under par.

McIlroy went round in a 68 to keep himself in the hunt for back-to-back wins on the PGA Tour having won alongside his team partner Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans two weeks ago.

The Northern Irishman is looking to land a 26th title on the PGA Tour before he heads into the second major of the season at the US PGA at Valhalla next week.

Day, who matched Schauffele's score of 67, is going in search of a 14th PGA Tour title and his first in 12 months.

Schauffele admitted despite bad weather setting in towards the end of his round and a closing bogey on 18, he was more than happy to just get in the house to ensure a later wake-up call on Saturday.

"Yeah, just played some really nice golf the last two days," said Schauffele.

"Really happy to get that last hole in. I know it wasn't -- most of it was pretty until the end there. Yeah, happy to get it in and not have to wake up super early."

Schauffele has not won for nearly two years on the PGA Tour but he has a current circuit-leading 19 top-10 finishes since his last win in Scotland.

This week marks the sixth signature event of eight on the PGA Tour this season.

The players are competing for a giant prize purse of $20m, with the winning landing $3.6m.