Wyndham Clark came out firing at The Masters, but the par-5s doomed his round as he finished well off the lead.
Wyndham Clark stood at the 11th tee box of the 88th Masters Tournament Thursday in great shape. He was 3-under par and just a few shots back of the leader, Bryson DeChambeau.
Then adversity struck and Clark hit some untimely shots that dropped him eight shots back at day’s end.
Following his round, he showed off why he is one of the most confident players on Tour.
“Yeah, we’ve got 54 holes. In LIV Golf they only play 54, so I like my chances,” Clark said with a bit of a wry smile. “We’ve got a lot of golf left. As you can see, someone shot 7-under. I could do that tomorrow.”
"Yeah, we've got 54 holes. In LIV Golf they only play 54, so I like my chances."
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) April 11, 2024
Wyndham Clark feels confident he can still catch the leaders after his first round at the Masters. pic.twitter.com/xcvLGq0mrz
It is unknown whether that was a dig at the rival Saudi-circuit or not. But his assessment is spot on. If this were a LIV Golf event, they would just be beginning Friday. A lot can still happen.
But if Clark wants to climb back into contention, he can’t hit shots like the one he hit on the par-5 15th Thursday.
His approach came up short and rolled back down into the water. He would ultimately double bogey the hole.
Clark played the par-5’s at 2-over par during his first round. That will need to change if he wants any chance at a Green Jacket this year.
“I missed a six-footer on 13, I three-putted 8, didn’t hit a good wedge on 2, and then obviously spun off on 15. I played them fine, just the score wasn’t good. That’s probably the biggest takeaway. You play that 2-under, it’s a totally different round.”
Nonetheless, Clark’s irons weren’t the only reason for his back nine struggles. The wind was whipping furiously, particularly during the time he was on the course. That had a rather large impact on a number of players including Tiger Woods, who called Thursday one of the trickiest days he’s ever seen at Augusta National.
“Today it was blowing 20 with gusts up to 30. It’s just a hard day,” said Clark.
The winds are expected to be even more furious Friday, with gusts up to 45 miles per hour. Only time will tell how Clark handles it.
The reigning U.S. Open champion is slated to tee off at 2pm ET.
Kendall Capps is the Senior Editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social media platforms.
