Wyndham Clark reacts to his tee shot touchdown within the water in the course of the third spherical of the 2024 Players Championship.
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After firing back-to-back rounds of 65 at TPC Sawgrass, Wyndham Clark had ascended to what’s turning into an more and more acquainted place for him: event chief.
The reigning U.S. Open champ led by 4 photographs on the Players Championship midway mark, however Saturday’s third spherical was a unique story. Two bogeys en path to a spherical of 70 opened the door for his chasers, and standout rounds by Xander Schauffele (65) and Brian Harman (64) closed the hole. Clark now trails Schauffele by one shot heading into Sunday’s closing spherical.
The par-3 seventeenth gap at TPC Sawgrass was made for drama, and it delivered on Saturday. Tied for the event lead, Clark stood on the tee — and hit it fats, 20 yards wanting the inexperienced into the water. It was a stunning second for the present World No. 5 — and will have been an entire derailment of his hard-fought spherical. But what Clark did subsequent was shocking. Instead of opting to play from the drop zone on his subsequent shot, Clark re-teed, making an attempt once more the exact same shot he had simply botched so badly.
Clark’s technique paid off. His third shot was magnificent, touchdown about six-and-a-half toes from the outlet. Then, he drained the putt to save lots of himself from a devastating double bogey.
Depending on what occurs on Sunday, it will be straightforward to level an accusatory finger at Clark’s water ball on the seventeenth on Saturday, but when Clark manages to assert his fourth PGA Tour victory Sunday, you may view what occurred on the seventeenth in a unique mild: as proof of Clark’s grit. After all, the power to beat that form of adversity is what helps gamers win tournaments — not lose them.
“The ability to reset mentally, having made a fool of yourself in front of everybody in the heat of battle — duffing it cold in front of you, like a hacker would do — to reset and then play that quality shot takes a lot,” stated analyst Paul McGinley on Golf Channel’s “Live From” on Saturday. “That shows you into that mindset of Wyndham Clark.”
Clark, too, is viewing his restoration effort on the seventeenth in a constructive mild.
“I’m hoping that’s a huge point in the tournament and we look back after tomorrow and look at that hole and say, hey, that was maybe the shot and the putt that meant it all,” he stated after his spherical. “It’s unfortunate on a hole that’s so iconic and has a bunch of trouble to have kind of your worst swing of the day. But yeah, I followed it with a great swing and a great putt. I’m in the final group tomorrow, which is huge.”
It’s Clark’s kind of quick reminiscence and resilience that wins tournaments. And with a lot at stake, Sunday’s closing spherical on the Players is bound to be must-see TV.
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