Making his first-ever start at The Masters, Wyndham Clark had an up-and-down round at Augusta National Golf Club on April 11, ultimately shooting a 1-over 73 to leave himself eight shots back of leader Bryson DeChambeau, who fired a 7-under 65.
DeChambeau was one of several high-profile players who left the PGA Tour in 2022 to join LIV Golf and is one of 13 players from the Saudi-backed series teeing it up at the year’s first major championship.
LIV Golf events, of course, consist of just 54 holes instead of the typical 72 and don’t feature a cut. And Clark, whose group for the first two days includes one of LIV’s biggest stars, 2022 Open Championship winner Cameron Smith, made note of that fact following his opening round.
“We’ve got 54 holes [left to play],” Clark said in his post-round interview. “In LIV Golf, they only play 54, so I like my chances. We’ve got a lot of golf left. As you can see, someone shot 7-under, and I could do that tomorrow.”
As the reigning U.S. Open champ had a bit of a smirk on his face when he mentioned the 54-hole format, it seems likely that the dig at LIV Golf was made in a joking manner. But given the ongoing rivarly between the PGA Tour and LIV, who have yet to finalize the proposed merger that was announced last summer, you just never know.
Wyndham Clark Turned Down an Offer to Join LIV Golf
It’s interesting to note that Clark’s win at Pebble Beach back in February was a LIV-type victory, as the tourney was shortened to 54 holes due to weather issues. He shot 60 in the third round to put himself in that position, by the way.
On February 4, when the PGA Tour officially made the decision to call off the final round at Pebble, thus making Clark the winner, the 30-year-old hit the podium and was asked if he’d been approached by LIV Golf.
He answered in the affirmative, saying he “definitely met with LIV and went through those discussions” and that he “wanted to see what they could bring to the table.” Clark obviously chose to stay on the PGA Tour and offered up the reasons for doing so.
“I ultimately declined going to LIV because I felt like I still have a lot of things left in the tank on the PGA Tour and I wanted to chase records, I wanted to chase world ranking,” Clark said.
“My dream is to try to be one of the top players in the world, if not the top player. I just grew up always imagining winning PGA Tour events. So ultimately, I chose my legacy over LIV,rivalry and that’s really what it came down to.”
Clark Has Jumped More Than 150 Spots in the World Rankings Since the Start of 2023
If one of Clark’s goals is to chase world ranking, he’s certainly done a great job in the last year and a half or so.
When the Denver native finished his first start in 2023 at The American Express, where he tied for 50th, he was the 159th-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking.
When he notched his first PGA Tour victory on May 7 at the Wells Fargo Championship, he jumped from 80th to 31st. Following his win at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18, he jumped from 32nd to 13th. And with his win at Pebble, he jumped from 10th to 6th.
Tack on a couple of runner-up finishes at Bay Hill and The Players Championship, and Clark came to The Masters as the fourth-ranked player on the planet.
It’ll take some work for Wyndham Clark to capture his second major, given his opening round at Augusta. But he can catch fire at any time and has become one of those players who’s always a threat. And maybe if the LIV Golf guys tire after 54 holes, he can bypass a few as he attempts to run up the leaderboard.
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