Clark shoots course-record 60 for lead at Pebble Beach
PEBBLE BEACH,
Calif. — U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark had an unforgettable round at hallowed Pebble Beach when everything went his way and every putt seemed to go in. It gave him the course record Saturday with a 12-under 60.
It also might be enough to give him another big title and $3.6 million without hitting another shot at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am due to expected rain on Sunday.
Clark was inches away from a sub-60 round on a cold, soggy course, a performance so remarkable it was nine shots better than the field average. He made five putts from 25 feet or longer. He made bogey with perhaps his best putt of the day after hitting a chip lefthanded.
He finished one shot ahead of Ludvig Aberg, who shot 67.
“I definitely thought about it last night and this morning with everyone saying how bad the weather's going to be,” Clark said. “You've got to have that mentality that today's the last day so try to go for broke. With that said, that's very rare that we have 54 holes, so I'm not banking on it.”
He was 10 under through 11 holes, and a 59 was in the back of Clark's mind.
Clark knew this was his day when his drive on the 16th went into the deep, soggy rough. Just his luck, it was right in front of where an animal had been burrowing, giving him a free drop and a clean lie.
Aberg, who missed a 2-foot par putt at Spyglass Hill on Thursday, has played bogey-free for two days at Pebble Beach. He had his chances to catch Clark, missing birdie putts of 10 feet on the par-5 14th and 6 feet on the 16th.
Matthieu Pavon birdied his last hole for a 66 and was alone in third place.
Texas-ex Scottie Scheffler, who started in a three-way share of the lead, shot 70 and was four shots behind.
Joaquin Niemann goes into the final round of LIV Golf Mayakoba with a four-shot lead without having a round in the 60s. A day after Niemann shot 59, he had to settle for a 1-under 70 on Saturday to maintain control at Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
Masters champion Jon Rahm, the biggest name to sign with the Saudifunded league during the offseason, overcame an early bogey to post a 67 and join Dean Burmester (66) in the group trying to track down Niemann.
Niemann was at 13under 129.
Dylan Frittelli took a two-shot lead at the Bahrain Championship despite a bogey on the final hole of a 3-under 69 in the third round on Saturday at Riffa, Bahrain.
The South African was in a three-way tie for the lead after Friday's second round but Jesper Svensson (72) and Joel Girrbach (74) both struggled in the third. Ockie Strydom, another South African, moved into second place after matching Frittelli's 69, while Svensson was alone in third place.
Frittelli holed the winning putt for Texas when it won the NCAA title in 2012 and lifted the trophy at the 2019 John Deere Classic in his rookie season on the PGA tour.