CHARLOTTE, N.C.: Xander Schauffele has been a mainstay near the top of the leaderboard most of the year. Now he’s hoping to close the door.

Schauffele shot a 4-under 67 on Friday after opening with a 64, leaving him at 11-under 131 and four shots ahead of Rory McIlroy and Jason Day heading into the weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Taylor Moore and Sungjae Im were five strokes back at 6 under.

The 30-year-old Schauffele has seven top 10 finishes this season, but no wins. He’s looking to snap a winless streak that dates to July 2022 at the Genesis Scottish Open.

“I’ve had a few knocks on the door and I just tell myself to keep knocking,” Schauffele said.

Schauffele said the drought is something he’s always thinking about, but added that the toughest part is just to stay in the present.

“You just have to recognize the situation you are in, and realize that you are playing some good golf and just get out of your own way at times,” Schauffele said.

Schauffele’s was locked in most of the day.

He hit 15 greens and his only hiccup came when he made bogey on the 18th hole while he was trying to rush to finish his round and beat a storm that would suspend play for about an hour. Play eventually did resume, but Schauffele feared he would have to get up early to play a shot or two and then wait several hours to play his third round on Saturday.

“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,” Schauffele said. “It’s all good.”

McIlroy entered the day three shots behind Schauffele, but managed to lose ground despite not making a bogey. McIlroy finished with a 68. He had several opportunities to put the pressure on Schauffele, but missed a few makeable putts.

Still, the star from Northern Ireland walked away feeling good about his play.

“Felt like I probably could have squeezed a couple more out of the round, but anytime you can go around this golf course bogey free it’s always going to be a decent day,” said McIlroy, who teamed with Shane Lowry to win the Zurich Classic two weeks ago.

The world’s No. 2-ranked player has had some spectacular weekend performances before at Quail Hollow, including a club-record 61 in 2015. He closed with a 62 in 2010 to win his first PGA Tour title.

He said he will lean on those as he sets his sights on catching Schauffele.

“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.”

McIlroy is the only three-time winner of the event, and said the course simply suits his game well because it allows him to take advantage of his distance off the tee.

“I’ve had so many good memories here, I just feel positive vibes,” McIlroy said. “I feel good about myself when I’m walking around here.”

Day also had a 67. The Australian has struggled of late, with only one top-25 finish in his last six events.

“I’ve had a run over the last month and a half, two months where it’s just been kind of poor play, poor hitting,” Day said. “I’ve been losing a ton of strokes to the field approach to green, not necessarily on the driver. It’s weird, it’s kind of strange to drive it decently well and to hit it poor coming into the greens.”

Max Homa, the only player other than McIlroy with multiple wins at the Wells Fargo Championship, was eight shots behind after a 70. Justin Thomas also was 3 under after a 71.

WASHINGTON: Rory McIlroy revealed details on Thursday about a new PGA Tour subcommittee created to conduct direct talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) about finalizing a merger deal.

Players Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and McIlroy will be on a seven-person PGA Tour Policy Board transaction subcommittee created to sit across the table from the financial backers of LIV Golf and hammer out terms to unite the tours.

A framework agreement released last June has not been finalized, the board needing to approve such a move, and talks have stretched well beyond the initial deadline of last December.

“There’s a window of opportunity here,” McIlroy said. “I think that window closes ever so slightly every day that passes by, so I would say time is of the essence, absolutely.”

Others on the subcommittee would include PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Fenway Sports Group boss John Henry, who led an investment group of US sports team owners that created a $1.5 billion for-profit entity PGA Tour Enterprises.

McIlroy said that while he is not returning to the tour policy board, he was brought into the subcommittee to provide knowledge and perspective.

“A different perspective, maybe more of an international perspective,” he said. “My insight is more the position of where the global game is and where it could go.”

McIlroy also has relationships on both sides of the table, including with PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

“I feel like I’ve got good relationships on both sides there and hopefully I can bring something to the table, try to provide some insight and value and see if we can get this thing done,” McIlroy said.

Woods, a 15-time major winner, was among those said to disagree with McIlroy about the future direction of the sport. McIlroy said that there is no strain on their relationship even though they don’t totally agree on a path forward.

“Friends can have disagreements or not see eye to eye on things. I think that’s fine,” McIlroy said. “We had a really good talk last Friday for 45 minutes just about a lot of different things. No, there’s no strain there.

“I think we might see the future of golf a little bit differently, but I don’t think that should place any strain on a relationship or on a friendship.”

McIlroy said the subcommittee has already had meetings to plan the way forward in negotiations.

“I’ve already had calls with that group. I had a really good hour and a half Zoom with those guys on Sunday. We went through a 150 page doc about the future product model and everything,” McIlroy said.

“Yeah, I’m not on the board, but I’m in some way involved in that transaction committee. I don’t have a vote so I don’t have, I guess, a meaningful say in what happens in the future, but I feel like I can be helpful on that committee, and that was sort of a compromise for not getting a board seat.”

McIlroy said the big issue about him returning to the board in place of Webb Simpson, who was leaving but now is staying, was regarding improper process, not his viewpoints.

When noting PGA-LIV potential deal stumbling points on Wednesday, McIlroy cited American players possibly not wanting to have greater worldwide travel for tournaments compared to mostly US-based events now and what punishment might be required for those who jumped from the PGA Tour to LIV while others declined them and stayed loyal to the established circuit.