Clark wins Pebble Beach after storm cancellation
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Wyndham Clark was declared the winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday evening when the PGA Tour canceled the final round because of wicked weather conditions that would linger into the next day and cause safety concerns.
Clark’s final stroke was to tap in for birdie Saturday, giving him a course record 12-under 60 and a one-shot lead over Ludvig Aberg.
He never had to hit another shot.
Overnight rain saturated Pebble Beach, and raging wind that followed led the PGA Tour to postpone the final round with hopes of playing on Monday.
The tour said the storm known as an “atmospheric river” was to linger into Monday morning, and while conditions were expected to improve, Monterey County emergency officials had urged residents to stay at home.
“Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of all constituents, there will be no play on Monday,” the PGA Tour said in declaring the tournament 54 holes and Clark the winner.
Clark picked up his third win in the last nine months, all of them big with a $3.6 million payoff. He also won the Wells Fargo Championship and his first major at the U.S. Open last year at Los Angeles Country Club.
Nieman bests Garcia in playoff to win LIV opener
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Joaquin Niemann outlasted Sergio Garcia well after sunset Sunday in the season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba, making a 12-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the fourth hole of a playoff with the green lit by a large video screen.
Niemann won his first LIV Golf title two days after opening with a 12-under 59 — and a day after having two penalty strokes tacked onto his second-round score for taking incorrect relief on a drop from a cart path on the 13th hole.
That left the 25-year-old Chilean two shots ahead entering the final round. He closed with a 1-under 70, parring the final two holes to match Garcia at 12-under 201 at El Camaleon. Garcia parred the final three holes of regulation in a 66.
Niemann had putts to win on the par-4 18th in regulation and again on the first two extra trips down the hole, then survived on the third playoff hole when Garcia missed a 10-foot birdie try.
Niemann and Garcia decided to play one more hole in the fading light, and Garcia gave Niemann a big opening when he left his approach from the fairway well right in deep rough. The 44-year-old Spanish player’s flop shot raced by the right edge, and Niemann followed with the winner in the longest playoff in the Saudi-funded league’s threeyear history.
Nieman won the Australian Open in December with an eagle in a playoff against Rikuya Hoshino.
Masters champion Jon Rahm, the biggest name to sign with LIV Golf league during the offseason, tied for third at 10 under in his tour debut.