Wyndham

Clark

Clark entered the week with plenty of momentum, posting a win and four other top-12 finishes since the beginning of March. The only question mark was his lack of previous success in major championships (four missed cuts, a T75 and T76). He certainly didn’t look like a golfer that struggles on the big stage this week. His short game really shined, ranked 7th around-the-green and 4th in putting. It was an emotional win for Clark, “It was kind of a special vibe all week being here in LA. My parents got married at Riviera Country Club. I have some roots a little bit in this area. All I really wish is that my mom could be here and I could just hug her and we could celebrate together. But I know she’s proud of me.” It took him 134 events to break his maiden on the big stage but just three tournaments later he’s already picked up a second.

Clark went out in the afternoon but didn’t deal with too tough of conditions. He took advantage of the relatively inviting weather with seven birdies and an eagle to erase a trio of bogeys. “I didn’t hit it all that great, you know. In the fairway my iron game was a little suspect, but I putted great. I had some bogeys out there and I followed every bogey up with birdie so I thought mentally I was great.” The stats back that up as he gained 3.1 strokes around-the-green and 1.9 strokes putting. It was a standout short-game clinic but he’ll want to tidy up the striking if he wants to stay in the hunt for three more days. Clark is playing in his seventh career major and still searching for his first notable finish (T75 at the 2021 PGA Championship being his best).

Clark slept on the 54-hole lead, his second time doing that on the PGA TOUR (T7/2019 Honda Classic). He eased into Sunday with a bogey and six pars but didn’t push too hard and left the birdies flow naturally. They certainly started to pour in with five birdies on an eight-hole stretch kicked off at the par-4 eighth,while Xander Schauffele was chasing him the whole time. “I’ve been in this situation a couple times and it’s kind of prepared me for today. And obviously I didn’t pull it off in the previous times, but I just kept leaning back on those experiences.” This is Clark’s first career PGA TOUR win, in his 134th start on the big stage. He’s now fifth in the FedExCup race.

Clark was a heavy betting favorite to start the week and found himself just one shot off the pace heading into Sunday. He remained at the top of the board with birdies on four of his first seven holes today. The fun stopped there with bogeys at 8 and 12 and no more birdies by day’s end. He likely left the course with some disappointment but Clark now has top 50s in 12 straight events, six of those doubling as top 20s. He’s still on the hunt for his breakout win.

Iron play was the recipe this week for Clark who ranked third in strokes gained approach, +5.9 strokes for the event. That led to 17 birdies and an eagle, not enough to overcome 11 bogeys and a double. Clark now has 11 straight paydays, three of them doubling as top 10s. This will go in the books as one of the three best finishes of his TOUR career (2nd at 2020 Bermuda Championship, T5 at the 2019 3M Open). He’s still on the hunt for his breakout win.

It’s that time of the year when sunshine is at a premium and they couldn’t quite get all 132 golfers to the clubhouse today at Memorial Park. There are still 13 golfers yet to finalize their opening round. Wyndham Clark is not one of them as he turned in his card before the horn blew. Clark gained 3.8 strokes tee-to-green in round one, 7th in the field, landing 14 greens in regulation along the way. Clark will look to keep the ball rolling with a Friday morning tee time.

Clark was dialed in with the driver to start his day, gaining strokes off-the-tee on each of his first seven drives. He would end up gaining 1.6 strokes off-the-tee, 2nd best among the morning wave. That put a fair amount of scoring clubs in his hand and he delivered with seven birdies to erase a pair of bogeys. Clark twirled a T16 last week at the ZOZO Championship and he’s rolled over that momentum as he plays Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina. He’s just one shot off the early pacesetters at the top.

Clark landed the final spot in the field this week, with the top 70 qualified for leg two of the FedExCup Playoffs. It’s been a good year for the Oregon alum who set a personal best in cuts made (21) and matched his best in terms of top 10s (3). He arrives with top 40s in five of his last six starts including a T8 in Detroit. Clark will have an uphill battle to crack the top 30 by week’s end but perhaps a more reasonable goal would be to post a new career best for season-ending FEC standings. Clark landed at 64th in the end-of-year race during his 2019 rookie campaign and that remains his best FEC finish in three complete seasons. The 28-year-old should continue to be a target in weekly fantasy formats, especially single-round formats as he can go low with the best of them.

The 28-year-old, who posted rounds of 69-68-69-65, outflanked three bogeys on Sunday with a career-tying-high 10 birdies, and at a projected 75th in the FedExCup standings (up 14), is not in the published field at the regular-season-ending Wyndham. This was his third Rocket and second top 25 (T17/2019), and his third top 10 of the season in 28 events, first since the RBC Canadian Open six starts ago, where he was the 18- and 36-hole leader. For the festivities, the Oregon alum tallied 24 birdies against seven bogeys, and currently ranks 4th SG: Off-the-Tee (4.924), 56th SG: Approach (-0.676), 16th SG: Around (1.498), and 19th SG: Putting (3.867), including a 1.641 SGP in R4.

The 28-year-old, who led by one after Rounds 1 and 2, respectively, and was error-free 6-under thru 13 holes on Sunday before stalling out, was chasing his first win in 107 events but settles for a second top 10 of the season in 22 events (T10, Zurich w/ Cameron Tringale), and his first individually since T8 at last season’s Genesis Invite. He drops to 0-for-3 and 0-for-2 as an 18- and 36-hole leader/co-leader, but does bag his first cash in three visits, and stamps his ticket to the 150th Open (St. Andrews) in five weeks via the Open Qualifying Series, where he’ll make his Open debut. For the week, the Oregon alum posted laps of 63-70-68-69, totaled one eagle and 18 birdies against three bogeys and a double, and ranked 52nd SG: Tee-to-Green (0.192), lowlighted by a -3.695 TTG on Sunday, and No. 1 SG: Putting (10.941), including a 3.295 SGP in R4. See link below to post-round comments.