Wyndham Clark cleared of rules infraction related to pitch mark on third hole in Round 2 at Bay Hill
Wyndham Clark unintentionally ignited golf's social-media sphere when he took a drop from a pitch mark in the third fairway Friday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Clark's tee shot hit the fairway, took a bounce and settled in a dirt area. It was impossible to tell with the naked eye while watching TV whether that resting place was created by Clark's tee shot or by someone else.
Clark, however, was confident that it was his original pitch mark and he took relief. He went on to par the hole.
With social-media accusations flying, the PGA Tour released a statement saying, "After reviewing ShotLink video of Wyndham Clark's tee shot on the third hole during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, the PGA Tour Rules Committee determined that the ball returned to its own pitch mark, which entitled Clark to free relief."
During Golf Channel's coverage, as Clark was wrapping his round, in-booth rules official Mark Dusbabek further explained the situation, saying the Tour captured the incident with one of its 146 on-course cameras. A hi-res video showed Clark's ball hit, bounce forward and then spin back into its original pitch mark.
"Yeah, didn't know there was any confusion obviously when I'm playing," Clark said after his round. "When we hit it, I was asking for it to stop. We never saw it bounce. Then we get up there and it's in a plugged lie. It was filled with — my ball was covered with mud. So we took relief, didn't think anything of it."
Clark was a co-leader in Round 2 before making double bogey at the 15th hole. He finished with a 1-under 71 to sit two back of leader Shane Lowry.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
26 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
What's next for Rory McIlroy? What's the motivation? Oakmont presents stern test for those answers
OAKMONT, Pa. – 'You dream about the final putt going in at the Masters, but you don't think about what comes next.' For all the talk about Rory McIlroy's driver issues in recent weeks — the handwringing after one of his worst performances on the PGA Tour last week in Canada and the general rubbernecking that's followed his career-defining victory at the Masters — McIlroy's honest assessment about legacy and longevity spoke volumes Tuesday. A player locked in a generational bout with the immortals of the game would never allow the result — winning the career Grand Slam — to disrupt the process — finding a way to end more than a decade of heartbreak at Augusta National. That's not how players who want to make history think. So it was no surprise to hear the Northern Irishman acknowledge the career Grand Slam elephant in the room when he spoke with the media ahead of the U.S. Open. It was hardly a month ago that McIlroy was fresh off his emotional breakthrough at the Masters and the collective was anticipating a dominant, free-spirited run through the year's remaining major championships. What has followed is about as far from those lofty predictions as one can imagine. After decent, if not stellar finishes at the Zurich Classic (T-12) and Truist Championship (T-7), McIlroy's hopes at the PGA Championship were upended on Tuesday when his driver was deemed non-conforming (although he dismissed that notion). 'It wasn't a big deal for Scottie [Scheffler], so it shouldn't have been a big deal for me,' said McIlroy, who correctly pointed out that the eventual champion's driver was also deemed non-conforming. He followed that pedestrian tie for 47th at Quail Hollow with rounds of 71-78 — the latter, his worst score in a non-major in his Tour career — at last week's RBC Canadian Open. It was his first missed cut since last year's Open Championship. Finding a replacement for his non-conforming driver has been a task as he's given up over five shots to the field off the tee in his last two starts. He spent the weekend at home in South Florida and concluded, he 'wasn't using the right driver.' This week's outrageously difficult exam at Oakmont will certainly test that theory and the would-be favorite has now faded to third on the betting lists behind Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau. But McIlroy's driving proficiency, or lack of proficiency, is a symptom, not the ailment. We've seen McIlroy's form ebb and flow throughout his career. What this is about is where you go from here. That magic Sunday at the Masters was the culmination of a lifetime of trial and so much error, and the emotions that spilled out of McIlroy were always going to leave a void that was difficult to replace. 'I think chasing a certain goal for the better part of a decade and a half, I think I'm allowed a little bit of time to relax a little bit,' McIlroy said before quickly adding, 'But here at Oakmont, I certainly can't relax this week.' That but is carrying a lot. There is still plenty for McIlroy to accomplish in 2025 with two majors, including a return to Northern Ireland for next month's Open Championship, and a Ryder Cup at Bethpage. At 36 years old, he also has plenty of professional real estate ahead of him and at least another decade to add to his legacy. But reaching your professional Mount Everest has a way of softening even the sharpest competitive edges. One of the most underrated aspects of Tiger Woods' career is that he kept winning major championships, year after year, decade after decade, long after etching his likeness onto golf's Mount Rushmore. This could be nothing more than a competitive hangover. It was less than nine weeks ago that McIlroy struggled up the hill at Augusta National, overwhelmed by emotions and the moment, and to a certain degree, that struggle continues. Perhaps the most telling moment on Tuesday came when McIlroy was asked if he had a 'five-year plan?' 'I don't have one. I have no idea. I'm sort of just taking it tournament by tournament at this point,' he shrugged. 'Yeah, I have no idea.' Whatever becomes of Rory McIlroy 2.0 — be it a second career driven to be one of the game's absolute greats or a decade of victory laps and well-earned reflection — it's clear he's still trying to figure out what's next. The Live From crew react to Rory McIlroy's eye-opening comments regarding his playing future following his Masters victory.
New York Times
31 minutes ago
- New York Times
Bryson DeChambeau hopes to renegotiate new LIV Golf contract after deal ends in 2026
OAKMONT, Pa. — The big question with LIV Golf is what comes next. We know of the huge deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars to poach some of the biggest PGA Tour stars, but what happens when those contracts end? Bryson DeChambeau gave the first official confirmation of his deal length, verifying Tuesday that his LIV contract runs through the 2026 season. Advertisement Speaking before the U.S. Open as he attempts to defend his win last year, DeChambeau seemed to brush off indications he's rushing to return to the PGA Tour. 'We're looking to negotiate end of this year, and I'm very excited,' DeChambeau said. 'They see the value in me. I see the value in what they can provide, and I believe we'll come to some sort of resolution on that. Super excited for the future.' Much of this conversation gained steam in March when golfing great Fred Couples told a Seattle radio station that five-time major winner Brooks Koepka 'really wants to come back and play the Tour.' Koepka has voiced frustrations with LIV not being further along through three years, and during the 2023 Masters — in his first year with LIV — he admitted he may not have joined if he knew he'd return to healthy form as well as he did in 2023. Koepka has yet to confirm his contract length, but multiple reports have said LIV deals are for four years, and Koepka's deal ends in 2026 while Jon Rahm's ends in 2027. 'I've got a contract obligation out here to fulfill, and then we'll see what happens,' Koepka said of Couples' comments. 'I don't know where I'm going, so I don't know how everybody else does. Right now, I'm just focused on how do I play better, how do I play better in the majors, how does this team win and then we'll figure out next year and how to play better again. It's the same thing. It's just a revolving cycle.' Koepka then played a practice round with Couples a month later at the Masters. DeChambeau, though, has been perhaps the biggest beneficiary since joining LIV. His popularity has skyrocketed since leaving the PGA Tour in the summer of 2022, as his YouTube channel has amassed over two million subscribers. It coincided with DeChambeau's game reaching a new peak, winning the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst and contending at the 2024 and 2025 Masters and the 2024 and 2025 PGA Championship. Advertisement 'I think that LIV is not going anywhere,' DeChambeau said. '(Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud) has been steadfast in his belief on team golf, and whether everybody believes in it or not, I think it's a viable option.' DeChambeau added that his LIV team, the Crushers, has been profitable the past two years, and he alluded to deals with Reebok and more coming in the future. The key element to follow in DeChambeau's aforementioned negotiation is whether new deals will also contain the massive upfront signing bonuses given to players joining from the PGA Tour. DeChambeau's deal was reportedly worth $125 million, and Golfweek's Eamon Lynch reported LIV told players not to expect those sorts of huge upfront payments in new negotiations. 'How it all works with the game of golf, who knows, but I know my worth,' DeChambeau said. 'I know what LIV brings to the table. And I'm excited for the future of what golf is going to be.'
USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
LIV Golf CEO calls PGA Tour 'NASCAR to our (Formula 1),' but still hopes to grow together
LIV Golf CEO calls PGA Tour 'NASCAR to our (Formula 1),' but still hopes to grow together Apparently, there are still a few things money – in this case, nearly a trillion dollars of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund – can't buy. LIV Golf chief executive officer Scott O'Neil made that clear Monday, June 9, at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club, when he didn't try to hide his upstart tour's ongoing desire to merge with the cachet-rich PGA Tour. Even while leveling some criticism at the PGA Tour – casting it as a traditional-bound tour with a limited audience – O'Neil said LIV still wants to align itself with the world's top tour and its stars. 'We have a growing sport, we have an important sport,' he said in front of about 250 people at St. John's Resort in Plymouth, which will host its first LIV tournament Aug. 22-24. 'The most important people in the world play the sport. 'And so we have this amazing, amazing opportunity. Now, if some of the opportunity leads to some sort of connection and collaboration with the PGA (Tour), let's go do it.' PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy was pessimistic in March, after a four-hour meeting between the two tours in late February, when he said a merger 'doesn't feel like it's any closer.' But O'Neil noted that the PGA Tour is looking for a CEO to work alongside commissioner Jay Monahan, which he said could lead to a fresh start in merger talks. 'What a wonderful opportunity,' he said. 'But I can tell you like, because we're so different, and they're NASCAR to our (Formula 1), like this notion of a merger might not fit your notion of a merger or that the media writes about. But what might happen, you might look to happen, is some opportunities for us to grow the game together.' LIV Golf taking team championship to Michigan Golf fans in Michigan will get a chance to compare the two tours in person and decide for themselves if any kind of merger would make sense. Two months after the PGA Tour's Rocket Classic is played at Detroit Golf Club, LIV's season-ending Team Championship Michigan will come to the Cardinal at St. John's, which marks LIV's debut in the state. 'And so we think Michigan has got an incredible golf market,' he said, while referencing AI modeling that identifies top golf markets. 'It's got stars, it's got love. Any event that's been here has been very well received. 'Our players, some of whom came years to the Rocket Mortgage Classic, have not been permitted to come the last several years, are really excited to get back here.' Golf fans in Michigan will get to prove O'Neil right or wrong. A three-day grounds pass is the cheapest ticket available and costs $122.06. Kids 12 and under get in free with a ticketed adult. Several PGA Tour stars like Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson who made appearances at the Rocket Classic, are scheduled to play in the 54-hole event for LIV (the Roman numeral for 54), when O'Neil said he hopes continues past this year. 'Yeah, we plan on being back here for a long time,' he said. 'We're here for one year. But we're in some discussions in the market.' LIV Golf CEO brings a new voice O'Neil, who replaced Greg Norman in January, has extensive experience managing global sports and entertainment brands. He pitched LIV tournaments as fun, raucous affairs with disc jockeys, live music acts and a shotgun start that ensures constant action. He cast LIV, in its third season, as a startup and a disruptor to the traditional golf-tournament model. But he noted that even in the traditional tournament world, there's a place for the serene and stately Masters as well as the emotion-fueled, roller-coaster Ryder Cup. 'How can you love them both?' O'Neil said. 'Well, they're just different expressions of this wonderful game. And I would just invite you to think about LIV as really a different expression of that same game.' LIV's ultimate goal is not entirely clear. But O'Neil seemed to hint it's all about the potential to reach a much larger global audience. That's why he compared the PGA Tour to NASCAR, which caters mostly to an American audience. 'And the U.S. is the preeminent media market, it's the preeminent sponsor market,' he said. 'But it's got 350 million people, and I'm talking to an audience of 7.8 billion. And so when I think about TV ratings, I really think about the 7.8 billion. And so we're doing quite well.' Not according to Nielsen ratings for U.S. households. reported through the first seven head-to-head Sundays, the PGA Tour averaged 3.1 million viewers on CBS and NBC, while LIV averaged 175,000 viewers on Fox, FS1 and FS2. Of course, it takes time to build an audience and for an upstart to make an impact. Maybe LIV will. Even if money – lots and lots of money – can't buy LIV everything it wants right now, that money certainly buys it a lot of time to keep trying.
