Tyrrell Hatton finished tied-third with Harris English and Tommy Fleetwood shared fifth with Adam Scott; Rory McIlroy struggled to a tied-47th finish in his first start since a missed cut at The Masters
Monday 8 May 2023 08:37, UK
Wyndham Clark came through a final-round tussle with Xander Schauffele to claim a maiden PGA Tour title with a dominant four-shot victory at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Clark saw his two-shot overnight lead disappear inside the opening three holes and he still trailed Schauffele with 11 holes to play, only to take control of the tournament with five birdies in an eight-hole stretch around the turn.
The world No 80 posted a three-under 68 to end the week on 19 under and close out victory over his playing partner in impressive style, with Schauffele having to settle for second after a final-round 70.
"I'm a little choked up, it's been a long five years to get to this point," Clark said. "I thought I'd have won earlier but it was well worth the wait. I didn't start great, I was shaky and I think in years past I might have folded. This time I stayed patient, hung in there and caught fire on the backside."
Clark saw his advantage immediately reduced to one when a wayward opening drive and poor pitch from the rough resulted in a bogey at the first, with Schauffele then rolling in a 10-foot birdie at the third to pull level with his playing partner.
Schauffele converted from six feet to save par at the sixth and produced a brilliant two-putt at the next to edge ahead, only for the Olympic gold medallist to miss from eight feet at the eighth and allow Clark to level with a close-range birdie.
Clark squandered a glorious birdie chance from six feet at the ninth but found himself one ahead at the turn thanks to Schauffele's three-putt bogey, then doubled his lead after taking advantage of the par-five tenth.
Schauffele fell further behind when he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the 11th but scrambled a par at the next, where Clark capitalised on a favourable bounce to drain a 20-foot birdie and move four clear.
The final group pulled further clear of the field when Clark converted from four feet at the 14th to match Schauffele' s birdie, with the pair also exchanging birdies at the par-five 15th as the final round became a match-play contest between the pair.
A three-putt bogey from Schauffele at the 17th gave Clark a five-shot cushion heading to the last, where he elected to lay up from a fairway bunker and pitch to 40 feet before two-putting for a winning bogey.
England's Tyrrell Hatton made a final-hole bogey to drop into a share of third with Harris English, while Tommy Fleetwood claimed tied-fifth on 11 under with former world No 1 Adam Scott. Defending champion Max Homa ended in tied-eighth on nine under.
World No 3 Rory McIlroy - a three-time winner at Quail Hollow - was never in contention and struggled to a one-over 72 despite an eagle and three birdies during an eventful final round, leaving him tied-47th at even par.
Clark, Michael Kim and Denny McCarthy secured the three spots for The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool through the Open Qualifying Series, awarded to the three highest-ranked players in the field not already exempt.
The PGA Tour heads to Texas next for the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch, where world No 2 Scottie Scheffler returns to action and former major winners Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama also feature.
Early coverage begins on Thursday from 5pm on Sky Sports Golf, with extra feeds available via the red button, ahead of full live coverage from 9pm.
Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland