Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy battling it out at Wells Fargo Championship

If Xander Schauffele has any intricate details about Quail Hollow Club that gives him an upper hand, he’s not ready to unveil them just yet.

“I don’t know,” Schauffele said Friday. “I wish I could tell you. It’s a big golf course. You’ve got to execute shots. I don’t know, maybe it’s so hard it makes you focus more. I have no idea.”

Schauffele’s track record on the now 7,558-yard course certainly isn’t all that shabby — he finished second here a year ago — and he’s off to another strong start in the Wells Fargo Championship. Firing an 4-under par 67 during the second round put him in prime position to be in contention over the weekend.

Schauffele sits at 11-under and holds a 4-stroke edge over fan favorite Rory McIlroy and Jason Day. Schauffele hit 15 greens in regulation and was in good form during the front nine, posting three birdies in the last five holes prior to making the turn.

“No, that’s kind of the thing,” Schauffele said. “I had some birdie looks, and when I was out of position I was able to hit the green still from the rough, which is a really tough task with the resurfacing of the greens here. Felt like I sort of plotted around the property pretty well.”

About the only true mistake was his bogey on No. 18. But Schauffele had a decent reason for misfiring there: A serious front featuring lightning was moving into the area and play got suspended for 58 minutes not long after his putt dropped into the bottom of the cup.

“It sort of felt like we were rushing in a touch,” Schauffele said. “I know I bogeyed it, but I’m definitely happy to be in. It’s stupid to say, but I’d rather take the 5 at this point after hitting such a bad chip versus waking up super early and having to reset your day. It’s all good.”

Schauffele’s lead could be challenged by McIlroy over the next two days. McIlroy, despite the flurry of changes to the course over the past decade, continues to have an unmistakable feel for the layout. He’s won this tournament three times — and that includes his first PGA Tour victory in 2010 — and enjoys the way it’s set up.

“I’m comfortable here,” McIlroy said. “I think I can take advantage of how far I hit it off the tee. I think this golf course really lends itself to driving distance. So, the fact that I’m comfortable, the length off the tee, and then I’ve had so many good memories here, just I feel positive vibes. I feel good about myself when I’m walking around here.”

That was on full display all afternoon. McIlroy birdied two of his initial six holes, and trailed Schauffele by a single shot through Schauffele’s first four holes and grinded out the finish, collecting only one birdie in his final nine holes. One of his best saves of the day came at No. 5, when he got up and down at the 449-yard, par-4 hole despite hitting his tee shot into the bunker, making it difficult to cut into Schauffele’s 5-shot advantage at that point.

But McIlroy scrambled nicely to save par with a nifty second shot onto the green and was just short on a nearly 45-foot putt. He tapped it in and held serve until carding a birdie at No. 8, his penultimate hole. Those issues with his swing he seemed to be dealing with during The Players Championship in March have apparently dissipated.

“Yeah, putting in the time. After The Players, I went to see Butch (Harmon) for that day just to sort of get a couple of ideas. I think just the combination of going to see Butch, getting a couple of ideas from him, working hard at it, sort of trying to rekindle some feelings that I’ve had in the past, it all sort of started to click or come together in New Orleans.

“I felt like I played very well there over the weekend. These two days have just been a continuation of that.”

And it sets up a fun scenario with McIlroy and Schauffele in the third round’s final pairing.

“Yeah, it’s just another day of work,” Schauffele said. “Saturday’s moving day for all of us.”

In other words, Schauffele is going to have to continue playing well to hold McIlroy at bay. McIlroy, after all, holds the one-round course record score: a 61 en route to claiming the 2015 tournament championship.

“Yeah, I think anytime you’re playing a golf course where you’ve shot some really low scores, you know that it’s out there,” McIlroy said. “The golf course is playing a lot differently this week than it played in 2010 and 2015, but I know if I get it going around here I can make some birdies and chase him down.”

Saturday’s tee times

7:45 a.m.: Emiliano Grillo, Matthieu Pavon

7:55: Billy Horschel, J.T. Poston

8:05: Matt Fitzpatrick, Austin Eckroat

8:15: Wyndham Clark, Rickie Fowler

8:25: Gary Woodland, Shane Lowry

8:35: Eric Cole, Jake Knapp

8:45: Adam Schenk, Kurt Kitayama

9:00: Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati

9:10: Tony Finau, Brian Harman

9:20: Mackenzie Hughes, Chris Kirk

9:30: Akshay Bhatia, Kevin Tway

9:40: Harris English, Viktor Hovland

9:50: Si Woo Kim, Seamus Power

10:00: Tom Hoge, Webb Simpson

10:15: Justin Rose, Brendon Todd

10:25: Tom Kim, Adam Svensson

10:35: Alex Noren, Adam Hadwin

10:45: Adam Scott, Ben Kohles

10:55: Andrew Putnam, Russell Henley

11:05: Nick Dunlap, Denny McCarthy

11:15: Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Kuchar

11:30: Patrick Rodgers, Lucas Glover

11:40: Keegan Bradley, Cameron Young

11:50: Nick Taylor, Jordan Spieth

12:00: Grayson Murray, Will Zalatoris

12:10 p.m.: Justin Thomas, Sepp Straka

12:20: Max Homa, Christiaan Bezuidenhout

12:30: Cam Davis, Sam Burns

12:45: Lee Hodges, Byeong Hun

12:55: Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith

1:05: Sahith Theegala, Stephan Jaeger

1:15: Sungjae Im, Collin Morikawa

1:25: Jason Day, Taylor Moore

1:35: Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy