Windham-Clark continues to dominate big events.
On Friday, the reigning U.S. Open champion shot a 7-under 65 for the second day in a row. He became the first player in Players Championship history to win the opening game. 65+ pairsper Justin Ray The Athletic.
“It seems like I’ve been breaking some records lately, which is pretty amazing,” Clark said after the round.
“More than anything, I’m really excited that even though I didn’t have a great front nine, I turned and got into a really good zone and felt really good on the green and hit some great numbers.”
Last month, Clark made history at Pebble Beach when he set a course record with a 12-under 60. This helped him win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which was shortened to 54 holes due to bad weather.
This week, Clark gave it his all again. After 36 holes, he finished with a total of 14 under par and left the golf course with a commanding five-shot lead over Matt Fitzpatrick and Maverick McNeely.
“I want to play great every week,” added Clark, who finished solo second behind Scottie Scheffler at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“All I have to do is try to be consistent. Even with our schedule right now, we only perform at big events, so that’s part of it.”
One thing remained the same on Friday. It was Clark’s scorching putter.
He gained 4.712 strokes on the green on Friday, placing him first in the field.
Clark won his first seven par-5 holes, with one birdie on the par-5 11th and one bogey on the par-4 14th, one of the most difficult holes at TPC Sawgrass.
Things then changed for Clark on the famous par-3 17th hole, where he sunk a 17-foot ball for birdie.
Two holes later, on the first par-4, Clark pared his approach shot to 18 inches for the first of four consecutive birdies.
but Key points from his round It appeared on the par-4 5th hole, which, like the 14th, has been a problem for players for many years.
Clark hit a bomb off the tee, traveling 334 yards and carrying a snaking sand trap to the right. However, he pushed his tee ball a bit and found thick rough lining the soft fairway of TPC’s sawgrass.
“Unfortunately, I drew a really bad lie,” Clark said of the fifth hole. “It’s a bad shot depending on whether you hit a good lie or a bad lie, and I hit a bad lie.”
He had 125 yards left until his second shot, but he couldn’t find the green and went off to the right.
“I thought the rough was going to pull me to the left, but it didn’t. So I went right and the lie was really tough, and I ended up chipping,” Clark added.
“But to make it [par] Pat [from 22 feet] It was huge. It was probably the biggest putt of the day in terms of momentum, and I kept that mo going and then connected on two of the last four for birdies. This was huge. ”
Clark sunk 18 feet for birdie on the 6th, birdied the tricky par-5 ninth and finished with a 30 on the final nine.
“When I switched to my old putter, the Jailbird, I started making so many more putts, and all the work I was doing on my mental game off the course was visible on the course.” ,” Clark explained.
“Probably the biggest thing is combining my mental game with my putting, and now I’m able to post good scores.”
Not only did Clark sink a lot of putts and stay mentally sharp in the process, he also found a lot of greens in regulation and gave himself ample opportunity.
Through 36 holes, he reached the required 31 greens, giving him a commanding lead at The Players. And even in the middle stages, Clarke shows no signs of slowing down.
Maybe he did what only Tiger Woods has done: win The Players as the reigning U.S. Open champion. That would be something pretty special and would likely catapult Clark into the sport’s upper echelons.
But he already deserves to be there, as his exquisite play speaks for itself.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
