Dechambeau shakes off early double bogey to stay in contention

Bryson Dechambeau believes he will have to improve to record backto-back victories, despite battling back from a poor start yesterday to remain firmly in contention in the Players Championship.

Dechambeau, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, began his second round with a double-bogey six on the 10th, his opening hole of the day, but recovered to card a second successive 69 at TPC Sawgrass.

That left the US Open champion alongside fellow Americans Denny Mccarthy, Brian Harman and Charley Hoffman on six-under-par, a shot behind clubhouse leader Chris Kirk with overnight leader Sergio Garcia among the later starters.

“You don’t expect to do that the first hole out,” Dechambeau said of his opening double bogey following a wild tee shot.

“I wasn’t feeling as comfortable as I should have been feeling and unfortunately that’s the way my day started.

“I was able to make a nice up-and-down on the next hole to settle it down, hit a close one in there on 13 and kind of was off to the races after that except the drive on 14.”

Mccarthy, who is seeking a first PGA Tour title, had a hole-in-one on the par-three third in his second straight 69, the world No 221 holing out from 165 yards with an eight iron.

Spain’s Jon Rahm was three shots off the clubhouse lead after following up an opening 72 with a 68, with Open champion Shane Lowry two strokes further back after a second round of 74.

Confusion continues to surround the future of Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder, who was widely expected to leave his role at Bramall Lane yesterday.

An announcement to confirm the 53-year-old had been relieved of his duties was planned for yesterday afternoon, but no public comment from the club was revealed.

The Blades cancelled their press conference with a player amid reports Wilder was set to be sacked, with the boss scheduled to face journalists via Zoom in the afternoon.

That media duty, scheduled for 1.30pm, was then rescheduled to 5pm before the club announced shortly before it was due to take place that it had been cancelled “due to circumstances beyond our control”.

The Blades, due to visit Leicester tomorrow, have lost 22 of their 28 Premier League matches and are bottom of the table with only 14 points, 12 points from safety.