Early in his second round Friday, the 27-year-old felt a painful tweak in his neck on the 12th hole. He sought on-course treatment for it while awaiting his tee shot on No. 14.

Despite the discomfort swinging the club, Scheffler did not consider withdrawing. He played the past two days with black kinesiology sports tape peaking out above the back collar of his shirt.

A pain in the neck did not keep him from continuing to grab golf by the throat.

“I’m a pretty competitive guy, and I didn’t want to give up in the tournament,” he said. “I did what I could to hang around until my neck got better. Today it felt really good.”

With Scheffler at full strength, his peers weren’t surprised to see him charging into contention.

“It’s just another week,” said 54-hole leader Xander Schauffele, one of three who finished a shot back.

Fellow runner-up and 36-hole leader Wyndham Clark said he peeked at a leaderboard on the 11th hole.

“I kind of chuckled and I said, ‘Yeah, of course,’ ” he said.

Clark was dumbfounded by day’s end.

Clark, Schauffele and red-hot Brian Harman each had a chance to force a three-hole playoff against Scheffler with a birdie on the par-4 18th, one of golf’s toughest closing holes.

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