Xander Schauffele seizes Players lead after Clark's gaffe - ESPN

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Wyndham Clark had just regained a share of the third-round lead at the 50th Players Championship on Saturday when Xander Schauffele missed a long birdie putt on the par-5 16th, the start of one of the most famous finishing stretches in golf.

After seizing momentum, Clark walked to the tee box at the par-3 17th hole and gazed at the thousands of fans surrounding the iconic island green. The hole was only 123 yards away, but it might as well have been a mile with tension building before his white-knuckled shot.

Just before Clark put his ball on a tee, his caddie, John Ellis, told him not to take a full swing with a sand wedge. Ellis was afraid that if the reigning U.S. Open champion nuked the wedge, his ball might end up on top of the green, leaving him a tricky putt back down the hill and toward the water.

Clark took a couple of practice swings and pulled his wedge back. He chunked the shot, and his ball never had a chance to reach the green, landing 15 to 20 yards short in the water.

«As I was over the ball, I kind of got to the top and I was like, 'Take a little off,' and then I just kind of [decelerated] and chunked it,» Clark said. «It wasn't really a lack of focus or anything. It just was honestly a poor swing.»

That mistake helped Schauffele erase Clark's 4-stroke advantage after 36 holes and take a 1-stroke lead over him heading into Sunday's final round. Schauffele carded a bogey-free, 7-under 65. He caught Clark on No. 12 and then took a 1-stroke lead with a 58-foot birdie on the par-4 14th.

Reigning Open Championship winner Brian Harman is 2 strokes behind at 15 under after posting an 8-under 64 on Saturday. After carding his only bogey on the par-5 ninth hole — which required the lefty