Wyndham Clark was not just unperturbed after a first-round 73 at the Masters left him eight shots back of Bryson DeChambeau on Thursday. The U.S. Open champion was brimming with confidence that he could still overtake the LIV Golf star.
“We’ve got 54 holes. In LIV Golf they only play 54,” said
Clark, taking a swipe at the Saudi-funded tour and its three-round format.
“We’ve got a lot of golf left. As you can see, someone shot 7 under. I could do
that tomorrow.”
Clark might be one of the most accomplished Masters rookies
ever.
Not only did he triumph last year at Los Angeles Country
Club for his first major, he also won the Wells Fargo Championship earlier in
the year at Quail Hollow. Clark added another victory at Pebble Beach in
February, finished second at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the
Players Championship, and shot a final-round 66 in the Houston Open in his last
start before the Masters.
No player has won his Masters debut since Fuzzy Zoeller 45
years ago.
“I was pretty calm. I felt great out there,” Clark said. “If
I played the par 5s a little better and maybe make one or two putts here and
there, we’d be having a different interview right now. I felt like I played
great. My game feels good.”
KEEP IT SIMPLE
History suggests that the key to going low at Augusta
National is to take advantage of the par 5s, but Scottie Scheffler took a much
different approach: He played the four exceptionally difficult par 3s in
3-under par.
Perhaps it helped that he was able to hit 8-iron into all of
them.
The swirling wind made the 177-yard fourth hole, played from
the forward tee box, play the same as the 192-yard sixth. And the two par 3s on
the first nine played the same distance as the famed 155-yard 12th over Rae’s
Creek and the 165-yard 16th, where water fronting the green again comes into
play.
“I felt like I definitely stole some shots there on the par
3s today,” Scheffler said. “You do have to take advantage of the par 5s out
here. Most of them are reachable. So you definitely have to do your best to
take advantage of those.”
PICKING UP MOMENTUM
Patrick Cantlay was having a ho-hum day Thursday, offsetting
four bogeys with three birdies, when he arrived at the par-4 17th. He had 146
yards, the perfect distance for his pitching wedge, and one swing changed just
about everything.
Cantlay holed out for eagle, taking him from 1 over to 1
under in an instant, and he finished with a par for a round of 71. That left
the eight-time PGA Tour winner feeling much better as he chases his first major
championship.
“Rode the wind and fortunately went right in,” said Cantlay,
who has one top-10 finish in seven tries at the Masters. “I think momentum can
be real. Definitely getting it under par for today, I think it’s going to play
difficult again tomorrow, so put four rounds together under par, have a good
chance.”
ONE IN THE RED
The only amateur among the five in this year’s Masters to
post a round under par Thursday was Neal Shipley, the runner-up in the U.S.
Amateur, who reached 2 under before a late bogey left him with a round of 71.
That was three shots better than Christo Lamprecht and
Stewart Hagestad, who each finished at 2 over.
“I’m really an experienced tournament player, especially at
the amateur level,” said Shipley, the first player from Western Pennsylvania to
reach the U.S. Amateur finals since Arnold Palmer in 1954. “I’ve had to deal
with conditions and hitting all these different shots under pressure. This week
is going to be no different. It’s just golf.”
RAHM’S REPEAT BID
Jon Rahm’s bid to become the first repeat Masters champion
since Tiger Woods 22 years ago is off to a rocky start after a rough back nine
left him eight shots back.
“It’s a difficult golf course. That’s all I can say,” Rahm
said. “It’s not easy. You’re not really having the luxury out there of being
able to miss shots, especially tee shots. Unfortunately on that back nine I
missed a few too many shots.”
Rahm was 3 under after eight holes but made four bogeys on
the back nine to finish with a 73. A year ago, Rahm opened with a 65 and went
on to win his first Masters.
“I struggled to put himself in position to make birdie all
day,” he said. AP
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