Unlikely things are happening
PGA rookie Clark leads heading into final round
Not too long ago, Wyndham Clark considered quitting golf. Good thing he didn’t. After shooting a 3-under-par 67 in the third round of the Honda Classic on Saturday, Clark is alone atop the leaderboard at 7 under entering Sunday’s final round at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.
Clark, a 25-year-old PGA Tour rookie, hit a low in his college career at Oklahoma State during his redshirt junior season after a stretch of inspired golf propelled him for years following his mother’s death in 2013.
Determined to get back on track after deciding he would keep at it, a change of scenery was in order. Clark transferred to Oregon in 2016 ahead of his redshirt senior season, and in 2017 he was Pac-12 Player of the Year and a semifinalist for the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year.
“I was going through a tough time, but yeah, it’s definitely fun to come full circle and be where I’m at now,” said Clark, a Denver native who now lives in Las Vegas. “I’m definitely really blessed and fortunate to be here.”
Clark, who came in at 4 under through two rounds, started Saturday with birdies on five of his first seven holes to shoot up the leaderboard, peaking at 9 under. He was 8 under by the time he got to the Bear Trap, where he bogeyed on 15 and hit for par the rest of the way. Clark could’ve gone into Sunday with a two-stroke advantage had he sunk an 8-foot putt on 18 that he left a foot and a half short of the hole.
While he snapped his streak of 122 holes without a three-putt on the 15th hole, he putted the ball well, especially early into his round.
“I’ve always been a pretty good putter,” Clark said. “Out here, sometimes with the greens, the condition that they are [in], it’s hard to hit it close and so you have a lot of 15-to-30-footers, and having good speed with those really helps.”
Clark is riding the momentum of his first top-10 finish on the PGA Tour last week at the Puerto Rico Open, where his 9 under had him finish in a tie for 10th.
“It’s just fun being in contention,” Clark said. “I love the moment. I love playing in front of fans, and I love to win.”
In a three-way tie for second and one stroke off the lead are Vijay Singh, Kyoung-Hoon Lee and Keith Mitchell, all at 6 under. Mitchell spent much of the later portion of the afternoon tied with Clark, but his bogey on 16 pushed him one shot off the lead.
“I wasn’t firing on all cylinders the last couple holes,” said Mitchell, who ended up shooting an evenpar round on Saturday after being tied for the lead after Friday. “I wanted to hit a few better shots coming down the stretch, but I’m pleased with being second going into tomorrow.”
Adam Schenk would have been part of that tie for second at 6 under, but he was retroactively assessed a two-stroke penalty because his caddie violated one of golf’s new rules, standing behind him once he was in his stance on the 17th hole on Friday’s second round.
Rule 10.2b(4) states that a player is not allowed to have his or her caddie stand behind him when the player begins taking a stance because aiming at the intended target is one of the challenges a player must overcome alone.
Starting his third round at 2 under instead of 4 under, Schenk shot a 68 on Saturday to now go into the final round as one of six players tied for sixth at 4 under.
Schenk said he was informed of the violation 40 minutes before he teed off Saturday morning and was understanding of the penalty.
“I broke the rule, so the intention was never to cheat,” Schenk said. “I had probably 15 minutes to warm up after that and played nicely today under the circumstances.”
Rickie Fowler, the world’s ninth-ranked golfer who resides in Jupiter, stands alone in fifth at 5 under after his 66 on Saturday.
Fowler birdied three times on the front nine, birdied again on 13 and then bogeyed the 15th hole. On 18, he had a 33-foot eagle putt come up 8 inches short of the cup to tap in for birdie.
“It was a great round. Exactly what we needed,” Fowler said. “A few good up-and-downs, good par saves, so happy with what we were able to accomplish today and move up the board.”
Those with Schenk at 4 under and tied for sixth are Brooks Koepka, Michael Thompson, Jhonattan Vegas, Roberto Castro and Ryan Armour.
Koepka, the West Palm Beach native and Cardinal Newman grad shot par on Saturday. He had to claw back from a double bogey on the second hole that put him at an early disadvantage.
“I’ve made one bad swing every day, and it’s definitely penalized me,” said Koepka, the world No. 4. “So if I can clean that up and play mistake-free [Sunday] and hit these putts a little bit harder, I think everything could fall my way.”
Thompson has momentum with a 66 on Saturday. He started with three birdies on the first three holes. Vegas, who led at 6 under after the first round, and Castro each shot a 69 on Saturday. Armour, like Koepka, shot par in the third round.
After barely making the cut at 2 over through two rounds on Friday, Justin Thomas shot a 67 on Saturday to put him at 1 under overall and in a big tie for 29th.
The defending Honda champion and world’s No. 3-ranked golfer had four birdies and a bogey on 11. He felt he could’ve put himself in much better position heading in to Sunday’s final round.
“It could have been a 5 under or 6 under pretty easily today,” Thomas said. “I just kind of had a little bit in the middle there where I didn’t play particularly well, but I hit a lot of really good putts that just didn’t quite go in.”
Thomas continues to endure through soreness in his arm. He played with tape around his hand and said he received treatment on the whole arm ahead of Saturday’s early round.
After also barely making the two-day cut on Friday at 2 over to extend his streak of cuts made to 21, the longest active streak on the Tour, Delray Beach resident Gary Woodland made the most of it. He shot a 66 on Saturday to get to 2 under.