Playing in an elevated event, against the world’s best golfers, Clark, 29, not only captured the trophy and the $3.6 million prize (not bad for a guy whose previous biggest pay day was $485,000), he did so in such dominating fashion that it felt more like a targeted demolition than a fluke. Only Xander Schauffele came close to interrupting America’s version of a long-awaited coronation, and even he faded into the distance by the back nine. As Rich Beem said to Colt Knost near the round’s end, as relayed on the CBS broadcast: “How is somebody 20-under par on this golf course?”

“I knew Xander was going to play well, but I also knew it was going to be tough,” Clark said, after making reference to his “squirrelly” start to Sunday. “My caddie kept preaching to me as we were warming up, he was like: ‘Hey, get your mind wrapped around that it’s going to be challenging. It’s a lot windier today, it’s going to be tough pins.’ So I kept reminding myself, hey, I’m in a position to win. It’s one of the few times I felt like I’m really happy with myself.”

As for Beem’s question, the strokes-gained statistics for the week tell the practical side of the story: Clark was first in tee to green, first in approach and third in putting, which in a nutshell means that even Schauffele, trying to chase Clark down from two strokes behind, had no prayer. The lone moments of drama came very early on the front nine, when a nervy bogey from Clark on the first hole and a missed green in regulation on the second (this is after a near perfect 17-for-18 in GIR in his masterful third-round 63) briefly gave oxygen to the theory that he wasn’t ready for the stage.

Schauffele even grabbed the lead with a birdie on seven, but when Clark struck back with a wedge to three feet for a birdie on 8, it was clear he had regained control. From there, his round took on a metronomic rhythm: par on 9, birdie on 10, par on 11, birdie on 12, par on 13, birdie on 14. Then he broke the pattern to make a second consecutive birdie on 15 after analysing his nine-footer to death, cracking the 20-under threshold. With nobody else in sight, Schauffele made a game effort to provide a token opposition, birdieing the 14th and 15th holes, but the chasm between him and the man on top was too great.

“I didn’t do what I needed to do at important times,” said Schauffele, who put the blame on his putter after posting a closing 70. “When you’re trying to win on Sunday, you need to put the screws down and put some pressure on the guys leading, and I didn’t do that.”

(When Schauffele was asked if Clark’s win was a good reason for not reducing fields next year, he managed to fight through his disappointment to make a joke: “I mean, I wouldn’t have minded because I would have won the tournament by three if he wasn’t here, so you might be asking the wrong person.”)

Far below Clark, Harris English and Tyrrell Hatton tied for third place at 12-under, and a shot beneath them, Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott tied for fifth. Max Homa was among a crowd of six at nine-under, while a resurgent Rickie Fowler finished T-14 at eight under.

As the sky grew overcast, Clark navigated Quail Hollow’s difficult ‘Green Mile’ closing stretch, benefiting from good fortune on 16 when a slice-adjacent drive bounced off a tree and back into a safe bunker, and finishing with a safe bogey on 18 to slip back to 19-under. Striding down the last fairway, Clark smiled, secure in the knowledge that the hard work was over, and he had secured the greatest triumph of his career.

Clark’s journey in golf to date has been one of significant struggles. In 2013, shortly after starting his college golf career at Oklahoma State, his mother, Lisa, died at age 55 from breast cancer. It sent Wyndham into a spiral that led him to transfer to the University of Oregon and coach Casey Martin, but not before he contemplated quitting the game entirely.

“There’s many times when I stormed off the golf course in qualifying or in tournaments and just drove as fast as I could, I didn’t know where I was going,” Clark said. “Just the pressure of golf and then not having my mom there and someone that I could call was really tough for me. And then professionally I’ve had multiple moments like that where you just, you miss multiple cuts in a row or you feel like your game is good and you’re not getting much out of it and you just contemplate doing it.”

Clark healed as a person and recovered his game at Oregon, but despite making the PGA Tour in 2018, he struggled to win and often failed to deliver under pressure. His closest call came at the Bermuda Championship in 2020, when he lost to Brian Gay in a playoff, and in the past three years his raw talent has repeatedly come up against a variable mental game.

“When I lost in the Dominican [Corales Puntacana Championship] this year, I was beginning to think that maybe I’ll never win,” he said. “I know that sounds crazy because I’ve only been out here five years, but I had a lot of chances to where I was within two or three shots either going into the back nine or starting on a Sunday and I always seem to fall short, and not only that, but seem like I fell back in positions. There was multiple texts and calls and times when I was so frustrated with people in my camp where I didn’t think I would ever win and I was like, ‘let’s just stop talking about it,’ because I didn’t want to think about it. I said maybe that’s just not in the cards for me. So being in the position this time, I was like, well … we know what not to do.”

Realising that he was being too hard on himself — and with some not-so-gentle encouragement from his team, including caddie John Ellis — Clark undertook a change in perspective starting in 2023, facilitated by self-help books and a willingness to examine his own psychological shortcomings. Even before the Wells Fargo, he began to see more and more success, with a T-10 at the WM Phoenix Open, a solo fifth at the Valspar Championship and a sixth the next week in the Dominican. In just four months, his World Ranking shot up from 159th to 80th, and the idea of winning became more realistic. When he finally stood on the precipice Sunday, he made sure to soak it in.

“You only can win your first tournament once,” said Clark, the victory coming with exemptions into the Open Championship this summer and the Masters next April. “My caddie, John, and I didn’t talk about it until basically I got the ball on the green.”

At that point, with the last doubts erased, the two men embraced — one long journey had come to an end, and the path was clear for another.

The post Heartbreak and happiness define Wyndham Clark’s long journey to a first PGA Tour title appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Sahith Theegala doesn’t have to look for work any time soon, but should professional golf not work out, the 25-year-old could have a fine second career in Instagram/TikTok trick-shot artistry.

We already know Theegala knows how to shank the ball on command, and we heard plenty of legendary tales from his days at Pepperdine. But now he’s showing off his skills in real deal tournaments, when the degree of difficulty is dialled up to 11.

At the 11th hole on Saturday at Quail Hollow, Theegala’s errant tee shot ended up in some pine straw left of the fairway, his ball coming to rest directly right of a tree. If he attempted to hit it righty, his options were to go backwards or to possibly break his club on the follow through.

Theegala opted to play hero ball instead, going deep into his bag by turning the club over and taking a full swing lefty. Judging by the result, it’s a shot he’s undoubtedly practised countless times before just in case the mood was right:

Going lefty?!

Creativity paid off for @SRTheegala on this one @WellsFargoGolf pic.twitter.com/iMfeEqSLx2

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 6, 2023

Considering how he followed through, where the ball landed and how it reacted, it looks like he actually hooked this ball around the trees. Reminder: this is not his dominant side. Insane behaviour.

The bold play came close to seriously paying off for Theegala, who pitched his third to 13 feet for a look at par. He just missed, settling for one of the more creative and impressive bogeys you’ll see on tour all year.

The post Watch as Sahith Theegala goes lefty, pulls off sickest recovery shot of the year at Quail Hollow appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Xander Schauffele proved on Thursday that it doesn’t matter how good you are — or how well you’re playing — Quail Hollow’s vaunted “Green Mile” can still trip you up.

The seven-time PGA Tour winner was in the zone and in the lead on Day 1 at the Wells Fargo Championship. But after making two bogeys in the difficult three-hole closing stretch — including one on No. 18 after his tee shot found the creek — Schauffele had to settle for a five-under-par 66.

“I really had it going there,” Schauffele told reporters after. “Ball was on a string for a bit, did everything really well. It’s a championship-style golf course, so played really well through 15 holes and then had a little hiccup there coming in, so it is what it is.”

Still, there’s plenty to feel good about for Schauffele, who is part of a five-way tie for second after the first round. So the 29-year-old should feel pretty confident heading into Friday.

“Yeah, I had a big enough head start on the course that I figured giving some back wouldn’t hurt me too much,” he added.

OK, maybe not that confident. Anyway, here are four other takeaways from Thursday at Quail Hollow.

Tommy Fleetwood’s fantastic finish

Not everyone stumbled coming home, though, on Thursday. Tommy Fleetwood actually thrived with a pair of birdies to finish his round and take the solo lead at six-under.

“Yeah, you can obviously look at it as you can make it as daunting or as simple as you want to make it,” Fleetwood said. “There’s somebody that’s going to hit a great shot on all of those holes today, like the shot today at 18, I made a birdie. There’s good shots out there and you have to always be looking for them and you always have to feel like you can hit one of those. Whether you do or not is a different story, but believing you can is the first part.”

Finishing in style on 18 @TommyFleetwood1 birdies the toughest hole on the course today and takes the co-lead @WellsFargoGolf. pic.twitter.com/ahwuXfMAam

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 4, 2023

Fleetwood, a six-time DP World Tour winner, certainly believes that he has the game to win on the PGA Tour as well. For whatever reason, though, it hasn’t happened yet. But after putting himself in fantastic position to make his maiden victory a big one at a designated event, he knows he’s got a lot of work to do.

“Look, today was just another round of golf,” Fleetwood said. “There’s a lot more to play, a lot more to play in the year. But yeah, good rounds builds confidence and that’s the only way sort of you can gain confidence is by going out there and playing well. See if we can keep it up.”

Speaking of building confidence . . .

Pat and Joe’s solid start

News that Tiger Woods’ longtime looper, Joe LaCava, was now Patrick Cantlay’s full-time caddie shocked the golf world on Tuesday. Far less shocking is the tandem getting off to a great start on Thursday.

Cantlay opened with a four-under-par 67, and seemed to get about 67 questions on the new partnership after. Here’s what we learned:

• It’s a “pretty easy transition” given their experience and friendship.
• They don’t talk a lot of golf in between shots.
• LaCava helped him with a couple reads on the green, including with a “tricky” birdie on No. 8.
• Pat didn’t need any pep talks from Joe on Thursday.
• Joe is already trying to convert Pat into a Yankees fan.

We’re not sure about how that last one will go given Cantlay’s SoCal roots, but we’re pretty sure these two are going to do just fine on the course.

Rory’s lucky birthday break

We know Rory McIlroy loves Quail Hollow and Quail Hollow loves Rory McIlroy. Heck, they named a bald eagle there after him a few years ago, but this was something else.

McIlroy hit a fine shot on the par-3 fourth hole (McIlroy’s 13th of the day) on Thursday, but his golf ball was going to run well towards the back of the green. Until it hit Matt Fitzpatrick’s golf ball, which was sitting about three feet from the hole. The result was both of them having near kick-in birdies (Fitzpatrick got to replace his ball where it was). Have a look:

Bumper golf @McIlroyRory answers with a dart and gets a little help from Fitzpatrick's ball @WellsFargoGolf. https://t.co/4hrgzGDyco pic.twitter.com/CnOSeL4pL8

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 4, 2023

How about that for a birthday present? That took McIlroy, who turned 34 on Thursday, to three under, which is how he finished his round. And even though he trails Fleetwood by three shots, DraftKings has him as the favorite to win for a fourth time at Quail Hollow.

KH Lee’s bizarre streak continues

The good news for KH Lee? He opened the Wells Fargo Championship with a 66. The bad news for KH Lee? He opened the Wells Fargo Championship with a 66. Confused? Let’s explain.

In a rather odd coincidence — especially because TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm hosted the event last year — this is the third consecutive year Lee has begun this tournament by shooting 66. And, also oddly, it hasn’t led to any particularly high finishes. Lee finished T-25 in Maryland last year and T-58 at Quail Hollow in 2021.

“Yeah, have really excited memory when I tee up the first hole and then even when I bogey or (inaudible) still I’m so happy here,” said Lee, who also played at Quail Hollow in last year’s Presidents Cup. “I just enjoyed it today and then I think (inaudible) make more birdies today.”

Imagine how happy he’ll be then if he actually strings a couple more good rounds together. That being said, Lee has also won the AT&T Byron Nelson the following week in each of the past two years so that seems like a pretty good trade-off. In other words, it looks like the rest of the guys will be playing for second place in Dallas again next week.

The post Xander Schauffele’s ‘Green Mile’ stumble, Rory McIlroy’s lucky birthday break, and a weird Wells Fargo streak continues appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Sergio Garcia has been linked as a possible marquee signing to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series. His remarks during a rules dispute on Thursday during the opening round at the Wells Fargo Championship did little to quell those rumours.

At TPC Potomac’s 10th hole during the first round of the PGA Tour event, Garcia rope-hooked his drive into a marsh, the area marked as a penalty area. Though Garcia eventually found his ball after wading through marshland, a rules official deemed he took longer than the three minutes granted for search and thus could not play his initial ball.

Garcia countered that the rules official was too quick with his timing, a point that the PGA Tour acknowledged was correct after the round. Understandably upset at the ruling in the moment, the 2017 Masters champ — in a scene caught on PGA Tour Live and shared over social media — proceeded to tell the rules official: “I can’t wait to leave this tour.”

Microphones also picked up Garcia saying he “Can’t wait to get out of here,” and “Just a couple more weeks until I don’t have to deal with [the rules official] anymore.” He finished with several expletives directed at the ruling.

Garcia ultimately made par on the hole, holed out from 161 yards for eagle on par-4 15th and shot a three-under 67. He declined to speak with reporters after the round.

Thursday’s on-course comments from Garcia are noteworthy given reports that he is among those considering jumping to the aforementioned LIV Golf series. Garcia has made no public comments about playing LIV Golf events, but the Spaniard has been a frequent participant at the Saudi International — an event sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is also backing the LIV Golf endeavour and is widely rumoured to be joining Ryder Cup teammate Lee Westwood (and more) at Centurion on June 9 for the first event. According to a recent story in The Telegraph, Garcia is said to be “willing to snub the Ryder Cup” in order for a guaranteed pay day. (The DP World Tour has threatened that those that jump to LIV Golf will be disqualified from participating in future Ryder Cups.) The first LIV Golf event is slated for the week before the US Open and is worth a staggering $25 million.

After the round, Steve Rintoul, PGA Tour senior tournament director, released a statement via PGA Tour Communications noting that, in fact, the rules official had mistakenly started timing Garcia too early. “To clarify, the time spent by Garcia trying to access the other side of the creek should have delayed the start of the search time clock, and the ball would have still been ‘in play’ if not for that error. Garcia was informed of the developments following his round. Under the Rules of Golf, Garcia’s score does not change despite the clarification.”

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The post Sergio Garcia: ‘I can’t wait to leave PGA tour’ following rules dispute amid LIV Tour rumours appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Thanks to the PGA Tour and Dustin Johnson, a soon-to-be father and mother at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic have a video to post on social media that’ll make their entire network of people jealous. In fact, they don’t even have to post the video themselves, because now the PGA Tour’s social media channels, with millions of followers each on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, everyone will see the video posted of them on Wednesday.

Dustin Johnson, the heavy favourite at this week’s tour stop in Detroit, made this couple’s video as unique as could be. Here it is:

A gender reveal … from @DJohnsonPGA.

DJ gave this expecting couple the surprise of a lifetime @RocketClassic.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/YRaNPRF9ju

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 26, 2019

It’s not the first time this season a PGA Tour pro has helped a group of fans with a huge life event. At the Wells Fargo this year, Justin Thomas helped a golf fan propose to his fiancée at Quail Hollow.

The post Dustin Johnson helps a couple with their gender reveal in heartwarming fashion at a PGA Tour event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.