Getty Wyndham Clark during the first round of the 2024 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
After making his first-ever start at the Masters, Wyndham Clark took a subtle shot at LIV Golf when answering questions after an up-and-down round that left him eight shots behind the leader, Bryson DeChampbeau, one of LIV Golf’s biggest stars.
“We’ve got 54 holes [left to play]. In LIV Golf, they only play 54,” ” Clark said with a little smirk, “so I like my chances. We’ve got a lot of golf left. As you can see, someone shot 7-under, and I could do that tomorrow.”
Clark, whose group for the opening rounds of the Masters includes another one of LIV Golf’s biggest stars, 2022 Open Championship winner Cameron Smith, shot a 1-over 73. DeChambeau, who fired a 7-under 65, was one of several high-profile players who left the PGA Tour in 2022 to join LIV Golf and is one of 13 players from the Saudi-backed series teeing it up at the Masters, the year’s first major championship.
“Yeah, we’ve got 54 holes. In LIV Golf they only play 54, so I like my chances.”
Wyndham Clark feels confident he can still catch the leaders after his first round at the Masters.
One of Clark’s three career PGA Tour wins turned out be to a LIV-style victory because the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February was cut short by the weather. Clark had shot a 60 in the third round to put himself in first place.
Wyndham Clark Turned Down an Offer to Join LIV Golf
In his post-match press conference at Pebble Beach, Clark said he’d been approached by LIV Golf to join that tour.
“I ultimately declined going to LIV because I felt like I still have a lot of things left in the tank on the PGA Tour and I wanted to chase records, I wanted to chase world ranking,” Clark, 30, said. “My dream is to try to be one of the top players in the world, if not the top player. I just grew up always imagining winning PGA Tour events. So ultimately, I chose my legacy over LIV,rivalry and that’s really what it came down to.”
Wyndham Clark’s delicate chip shot on No. 3 leads to a birdie. #themasters
Clark Has Jumped More Than 150 Spots in the World Rankings Since the Start of 2023
If one of Clark’s goals is to chase world ranking, he’s certainly done a great job in the last year and a half or so.
When the Denver native finished his first start in 2023 at The American Express, where he tied for 50th, he was the 159th-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking.
When he notched his first PGA Tour victory on May 7 at the Wells Fargo Championship, he jumped from 80th to 31st. Following his win at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18, he jumped from 32nd to 13th. And with his win at Pebble, he jumped from 10th to 6th.
Tack on a couple of runner-up finishes at Bay Hill and The Players Championship, and Clark came to The Masters as the fourth-ranked player on the planet.
It’ll take some work for Clark to capture his second major, given his opening round at Augusta. But he can catch fire at any time and has become one of those players who’s always a threat. And maybe if the LIV Golf guys tire after 54 holes, he can bypass a few as he attempts to run up the leaderboard.