PGA Tour’s Wyndham Clark takes aim at LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann’s 59 at Mayakoba after shooting 60 at Pebble Beach.
PGA Tour star Wyndham Clark appeared to throw shade at Joaquin Niemann’s round of 59 at Mayakoba on LIV Golf after firing his own round of 60 at Pebble Beach.
Clark tied the low 9-hole record at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by going out in 28 shots in Saturday’s third round, and he then returned in 32 to record the lowest-ever round in Pebble Beach history.
The winner of the US Open last year missed three crucial putts in the last three holes, which included his attempt for eagle on the 18th hole. Clark’s extraordinary round of 60, which unfortunately cannot be considered an official record due to the necessary lift, clean, and place rule, propelled him to the leading position on the leaderboard in the PGA Tour’s inaugural ‘full field’ signature tournament of the season, where a colossal prize purse of $20m is at stake.
With 18 holes remaining, he is in a position of 17-under par and leading by one shot ahead of Ludvig Aberg from Sweden.
However, there is a very good chance Clark will now walk away with the $3.6m first prize as bad weather is forecast for both Sunday and Monday, meaning the tournament could be shortened to 54 holes.
A decision on the completion of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am will be made by tournament officials this afternoon.
But back to the original story, and it was Clark’s frosty response to his own round of 60 – just 24 hours after Niemann shot a course-record 59 at Mayakoba in the first round of the LIV Golf League season – that has got golf fans up in arms on social media.
Moments after tapping home from inches to record a historic round of 60, Clark said:
“It just means more at Pebble Beach.”
The PGA Tour also got fully behind his comment as they posted a graphic with the caption ‘Wyndham Clark knows it’.
This comes during a week when the PGA Tour agreed to a huge $3 billion private investment with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), which now casts some doubt on the circuit’s framework agreement with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Clark then went further:
“Even if I had shot 59 somewhere, I don’t think it would compare to shooting a score like this at one of the most historic golf courses in the world.”
It should be noted for context Clark was heavily linked with a move to LIV Golf just two weeks ago as the Saudi-bankrolled circuit finalised its roster for 2024.
Jon Rahm reportedly wanted Clark on his team, and while negotiations got close, the deal fell through and Clark remained a PGA Tour player for the 2024 season.
Instead, Rahm picked up his European Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton.
Some golf fans believe Clark is feeling a little aggrieved at not having got his big-money move to Rahm’s Legion XIII as a result of his latest salty comments aimed at LIV Golf.
Other golf fans think Clark is just talking plain nonsense, simply because preferred lies were in place during his round of 60 at Pebble Beach.
Players had the ability to lift, clean, and position their golf ball when it was situated on the fairway. Data Golf specialists ranked Niemann’s course-record 59 at Mayakoba in Mexico on Friday as the fourth most impressive round they’ve seen since they started in 2016. Hence, certain supporters hold the belief that Niemann’s performance in the round at a softer Pebble Beach was significantly better than Clark’s score of 60.
Niemann is leading by a four-stroke advantage as he enters the last round of LIV Golf Mayakoba.