“It has nothing to do with me being on the board,” Simpson said of his place on the PGA Tour Policy Board.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Outside of the four major championships, players have circled the PGA Tour’s eight signature events on the 2024 schedule seeing as the limited-field tournaments boast a $20 million purse and offer up even more FedEx Cup points than a normal event.
This week at Quail Hollow marks the Tour’s sixth of eight elevated stops, and the big-money event has brought another round of criticism for the four players who received sponsor exemptions to the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship: Matt Kuchar, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson and Gary Woodland. As members of the PGA Tour’s Policy Board, players like Scott and Simpson have been in the social media crosshairs, and the latter – a Quail Hollow member since 2011 and resident since 2014 – defended his selection during a press conference on Wednesday.
“Look, it’s a different day and age now than it was. I know these sponsor exemptions are probably the most coveted sponsor exemptions in the history of the Tour, but we’re not going to make everyone happy,” said Simpson. “As we’re looking at what criteria should these sponsor exemptions be, yadda yadda, we’re trying to balance making sponsors happy, giving them the opportunity to invite — you know, these tournament directors, who do they want to bring to their tournament, to their community, who do they think will add value to their tournament. These tournament directors are working round the clock for a year trying to make their tournament the best. We want to give them the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, you have a few spots, four spots in these Signature Events to be able to invite who you want to invite.’”
The Tour’s idea with the signature events was for players to earn their way into the amped-up tournaments and reap the rewards for their efforts. A member of the Tour’s Policy Board earning four spots into the six signature events so far brings the meritocracy into question, especially given his form this season. Across seven starts, Simpson has made six cuts but hasn’t cracked the top 25. He’s 152nd in the FedEx Cup standings and No. 227 in the world.
“I know that I’ve gotten, this is my fourth sponsor exemption, and Adam Scott’s received his fair share. There was controversy and guys were trying to link us being on the board, but it has nothing to do with me being on the board,” Simpson. The seven-time winner on Tour (not since 2020) argued his relationships with tournament directors and specifically his connection to the Charlotte area have made him a worthwhile selection.
Webb Simpson hits a tee shot on the first hole during the third round of the Valero Texas Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
“So I certainly think the criticisms, I knew they were going to come depending on who got them, but I’m very comfortable knowing that we’ve given the sponsors the opportunity to pick, and the tournament directors,” he added. “I want to move on from it and realize that the Wells Fargo Championship is an amazing tournament.”
As a player in the field this week, Simpson has spent time with kids in the hospital and will spend time with the First Tee of Charlotte on the range at Quail Hollow on Wednesday afternoon.
“There’s things that I’m way more interested in and that get me excited than kind of worrying about what a certain person thinks about who should get sponsor exemptions,” Simpson said.
While Simpson doesn’t care about the perception of sponsor exemptions to signature events, the fans clearly do. The last thing the Tour needs right now is to alienate its supporters and water down its biggest events as it continues to be challenged each year by the threat of the guaranteed money offered by LIV Golf. The powers that be in Ponte Vedra Beach at Tour HQ are in a tough position as they try to make players, fans and sponsors happy.
“What the PGA Tour Policy Board has committed is that at the summer meeting, they’re going to review how things have progressed in terms of the metrics we looked at, you guys might remember me talking about this a year ago, retention rates, and the sort of aspirational nature of the PGA Tour,” said the Tour’s Chief Competitions Officer Tyler Dennis. “We’re gonna look at all of that and I’m sure sponsor exemptions will be one of those things and see what, if any, changes might be made for the 2025 season.”
The PGA Championship is on the horizon but the warm-up act on the PGA Tour was in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the sixth signature event of the year, the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler didn’t enter, he and his wife are patiently waiting for the arrival of their first child, so 2010, 2015 and 2021 champion Rory McIlroy was the highest-ranked player in the field (No. 2).
And he didn’t disappoint, winning by five shots and claiming his second Tour title of the season.
Take a look through some of the best photos from the week in Charlotte below.
It’s time for the latest signature event on the PGA Tour schedule, the Wells Fargo Championship
The event at Quail Hollow Club is set to get underway Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wyndham Clark is the defending champion, and he’ll look for his second win of the year. Being a signature event, all of the Tour’s biggest names are in the field outside of Scottie Scheffler, who’s awaiting the birth of his first child.
The purse at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship is $20 million with $3.6 million going to the winner. The winner will also receive 700 FedEx Cup points.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the first round of the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. All times listed are ET.
Thursday tee times
1st tee
Time
Players
11 a.m.
Peter Malnati, Matthieu Pavon, Gary Woodland
11:11 a.m.
Sungjae Im, Brendon Todd, Denny McCarthy
11:22 a.m.
Tom Hoge, Andrew Putnam, Adam Schenk
11:33 a.m.
Sepp Straka, Mackenzie Hughes, Eric Cole
11:44 a.m.
Si Woo Kim, Seamus Power, Patrick Rodgers
11:55 a.m.
Lee Hodges, Russell Henley, Byeong Hun An
12:06 p.m.
Jake Knapp, Will Zalatoris, Alex Noren
12:17 p.m.
Emiliano Grillo, Sam Burns, Harris English
12:28 p.m.
Hideki Matsuyama, Sahith Theegala, Viktor Hovland
12:39 p.m.
Rory McIlroy, Tom Kim, Max Homa
12:50 p.m.
Matt Fitzpatrick, Corey Conners, Adam Svensson
1:01 p.m.
Billy Horschel, Nick Dunlap, Kevin Tway
10th tee
Tee time
Players
11 a.m.
Taylor Pendrith, Akshay Bhatia, Justin Thomas
11:11 a.m.
Brian Harman, Jason Day, Patrick Cantlay
11:22 a.m.
Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele
11:33 a.m.
Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth
11:44 a.m.
Keegan Bradley, Kurt Kitayama, Cameron Young
11:55 a.m.
Grayson Murray, Justin Rose, Webb Simpson
12:06 p.m.
Austin Eckroat, Adam Scott, Ben Kohles
12:17 p.m.
Lucas Glover, J.T. Poston, Cam Davis
12:28 p.m.
Chris Kirk, Taylor Moore, Tommy Fleetwood
12:39 p.m.
Nick Taylor, Tony Finau, Adam Hadwin
12:50 p.m.
Stephan Jaeger, Matt Kuchar, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
“We have to come together and make a decision as a Board how this is going to go forward,” Adam Scott said.
McKINNEY, Texas – Ever since Webb Simpson offered to resign his seat on the board if Rory McIlroy took his spot, it has been a hot topic of conversation in the PGA Tour locker room and beyond.
Simpson, one of the six player directors on the Tour Policy Board, submitted a letter stating he’d like to resign with the caveat that McIlroy serve the remainder of his time on the Board. It’s a strange twist given that McIlroy resigned from the board abruptly in November, and was replaced by Jordan Spieth through a Board vote. (Simpson responded via text to an interview request saying, “I’ve been hunkered down and focused on my family and golf the last couple of weeks and it’s been very nice.” He didn’t participate in this story.)
Adam Scott, who joined the Board this year, said there wasn’t anything scheduled “at the moment as far as I know,” but noted, “it could be a good thing.”
“Rory is an important part of this Tour. His voice matters. We have to come together and make a decision as a Board how this is going to go forward,” Scott said.
He added the process is complicated because of Simpson’s highly unusual request.
“Usually, a player doesn’t have a contingency to their resignation and names a successor,” Scott said. “Some of the delay is just figuring out what is sensible. It’s a shame that it is out in the public. We don’t need all the ins and outs and being spread out detail-wise. We have a responsibility to shareholders now. The process matters more than ever. I think the process matters in general.”
If McIlroy were to rejoin the board that would mean that three of the largest stakeholders in the Tour’s new for-profit business entity – Woods, McIlroy and Spieth – would also be voting on Board matters.
“I think I could be helpful to the process,” McIlroy said at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans when the story originally broke. “But only if people want me involved, I guess. When Webb and I talked and he talked about potentially coming off the board, I said, ‘Look, if it was something that other people wanted, I would gladly take that seat,’ and that was the conversation that we had.
“But yeah, I think that’s the whole reason. I feel like I can be helpful. I feel like I care a lot, and I have some pretty good experience and good connections within the game and sort of around the wider sort of ecosystem and everything that’s going on. But at the end of the day, it’s not quite up to me to just come back on the board. There’s a process that has to be followed. But I’m willing to do it if that’s what people want, I guess.”
Rory McIlroy shares a laugh with Shane Lowry about his belt not fitting properly after winning the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. (Photo: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports)
While McIlroy gained respect among players for serving as an unofficial Tour spokesman for the better part of two years in the Tour’s civil war with LIV Golf, his decision to exit the Board during such a pivotal time in shaping the Tour’s future didn’t sit well with everyone.
“He was very clear that it was too much for him. He had business dealings, he has a kid, he wants to focus on his game. Trust me, I get it. But once you quit, you’re not getting back,” said Kevin Streelman, a former member of the policy board who ran against McIlroy for Player Advisory Council chairman. “I wouldn’t quit on something that you were elected to by your peers. To want back in is peculiar.”
James Hahn, another former player director, questioned how Simpson could handpick his successor.
“That’s just not how democracy works. It goes against all the principles of what make a Tour-run organization,” he said.
Hahn wondered what would happen if U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris said she was stepping down as long as she could choose her successor. Then he put it back into terms that hit more closer to home. “Imagine if instead of Rory, Webb said he wanted Nate Lashley, who has been vocal against some of the Tour policy decisions, or named me to replace him. There would be an absolute uproar. People would be saying, ‘You can’t do that.’ ”
One veteran pro, who asked for anonymity because of his limited status – “I’m begging for starts,” he said – claimed that Simpson will remain on the board for the remainder of his term. The veteran pro said he asked board member Patrick Cantlay at the Zurich Classic about McIlroy’s potential return.
“I asked Cantlay, Is Rory back on the board? He said, No. But Patrick is really smart so I thought about how I phrased the question,” the veteran player recounted. “Maybe he was just answering based on this very moment. I said, Pat, I apologize, maybe I asked the wrong question. Did Webb step down? He said, Webb has not stepped down from the board. Then I went higher up and got the full story. Now, it does sound like things change daily out here, maybe hourly, so you never know.”
Cantlay and McIlroy had been at loggerheads during their time on the Board. In November, McIlroy told Paul Kimmage of The Independent, “My relationship with Cantlay is average at best. We don’t have a ton in common and see the world quite differently.” And that was the nicest thing McIlroy had to say about Cantlay, who also described him using a four-letter word for male genitalia.
Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay shake hands after their final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
The idea of Simpson stepping down and being replaced by McIlroy is appealing to many who want to see the Tour complete a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Speaking at the Zurich Classic, McIlroy said, “I think I can be helpful. I don’t think there’s been much progress made in the last eight months, and I was hopeful that there would be.”
One tournament director said McIlroy realized he made a big mistake in stepping down and is needed to help get a deal with PIF across the finish line.
“We need Rory back on the board. Had he stayed on he could’ve neutered Cantlay. He’s the only one with the power to neuter Cantlay. We need Rory to try to keep Cantlay from ruining the Tour,” a tournament director said. “Webb is too nice. A lot of people at the Tour at a very high level are thrilled that Rory is going back on the board for that reason.”
The tournament director compared McIlroy’s return to picking its poison.
“Rory wants the Irish Open and other international events to be promoted and smaller fields and larger purses. There’s a lot we don’t like about Rory and his deal. But the main thing is Cantlay and we’ve got to get a deal done with the PIF. LIV’s got to go away. If we don’t get a deal done, we’re all screwed in the end. We all know it. (Cantlay) is against it. Rory is for it. So let’s get a deal done and get these (guys) put to bed. Do any of us want to work with the Saudis, no? But, on the other hand, none of us want to fight against them and their money for the rest of our careers, either. Cantlay is blocking any type of deal they try to put together. Rory wants (independent director) Jimmy Dunne to be the negotiator, not the players. The players should only be voting on what happens inside the ropes and rules and stuff. They are not businessmen. If you have a high school education how the hell can you vote on multi-billion-dollar finance situations and investment properties? They don’t have a clue. They don’t know the business. Hire the top business guys in the world to do your deal. Put them in place and be done with it.”
Simpson is expected to meet with the media on Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Championship, where he is playing on a sponsor’s invite, and he undoubtedly will be asked about his future on the Tour’s policy board. How he chooses to address those questions may offer some clarity into why he’d like to resign and insight into how this process may play out.
In four rounds Clark validated just how great he already was.
It’s hard to fathom that just one calendar year ago, Wyndham Clark arrived at the Wells Fargo Championship winless in his career on the PGA Tour. After a series of failures when the trophy appeared to be there for the taking, the then-29-year-old wondered if he was destined to never win during his career.
Seven days later on May 7, his childhood dream came true by winning one of the Tour’s biggest events on one of the best stages in golf. There’s no faking it around Quail Hollow Club and in four rounds Clark validated just how great he already was and fired a warning shot to the rest of the golf world of what was still to come.
In short order, he went on to become the U.S. Open champion in June, represent Team USA at the Ryder Cup in September, shoot a course-record 60 en route to winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and climb to No. 3 in the world. But none of that may have happened unless he achieved his long-anticipated breakthrough at Quail Hollow in Charlotte when Clark shot a final-round 3-under 68 for a four-shot victory over Xander Schauffele at the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship to earn his first career win on the PGA Tour.
Wyndham Clark salutes the gallery after putting out to win the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. (Photo: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
“I’ve dreamt about this since I was probably 6 years old,” Clark said that day. “Since I’ve been on the PGA Tour, you fantasize about it all the time, and I’ve done it multiple times this year where I catch myself daydreaming about winning, and to do it at this golf course against this competition is better than I could ever have imagined.”
Clark struggled to hold back tears as he sank a bogey putt on the 18th hole to seal the win, finishing the tournament with a 72-hole aggregate of 19-under 265, the second-lowest score in relation to par in tournament history.
No one had ever doubted Clark’s talent nor his work ethic, but in order to be a champion he first had to learn to harness his emotions. Since a young age, Clark has been called a winner. That’s what his mom, Lise, who was a national sales director for Mary Kay Cosmetics before dying of breast cancer at age 54 in 2013, used to call him. Clark grew up in Colorado. It was his mother who first took him to the driving range, and they were always close. Before she passed, she told her son that she wanted him to ‘play big,’ a life motto that has stuck with him ever since.
“She was always kind of my rock in my life,” Clark said. “In junior golf, there are times when you’re so mad, and you feel like you should have done better, or you’re embarrassed with how you played, and she was always there to comfort me.”
Without his mother, who died when he was 19, Clark was lost. About a year later, he contemplated quitting golf.
“When I was on the golf course I couldn’t have been angrier. I was breaking clubs when I didn’t even hit that bad of a shot. I was walking off golf courses,” Clark recalled. “Just drove as fast as I could. Didn’t know where I was going. The pressure of golf and then not having my mom there and someone that I could call was really tough for me.” On multiple occasions at Oklahoma State, he emptied his locker as if he was going to quit only for his then-coach Mike McGraw to pick up his gear and put it back. But eventually, McGraw decided that Clark needed to work on himself, not his swing.
“He said, ‘Hey, I think it’s just best if you step away from golf. At first I really was mad. I’m competitive. I didn’t want to not play, and I thought it was bad if you redshirted, that you weren’t good enough,” Clark recalled. “But it was also the best thing for me. I owe Mike a lot for that.”
When Clark returned to the team under new coach Alan Bratton, he remained intense, and when he didn’t make the squad for the 2016 NCAA tournament, he decided to transfer to Oregon. At the same time, John Ellis returned there to his alma mater to serve as an assistant coach to Casey Martin, who told him, “You’re going to be watching over this guy a lot.”
Wyndham Clark of Oregon at the 2016 East Lake Cup at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. (Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
“I heard of this talented kid but there are a lot of those in the college ranks,” Ellis recalled. “What stood out was that he wanted to be the best in the world and he was willing to work harder than everybody.”
Clark was regularly beating his teammates shooting rounds of 67s and 68s but Ellis would shoot 64 or 65. His message to Clark was simple: “I couldn’t make it on Tour. If you can’t beat me, how are you going to make it out there?” Under Ellis’s watchful eye, Clark blossomed into the 2017 Pac-12 individual champion and was named Golfweek’s Collegiate Player of the Year.
Unfortunately, for Martin, Ellis did such a good job that when Clark turned pro, he took Ellis with him to be his caddie. Ellis, who had a cup of coffee on the Tour, had played enough at the highest level to realize Clark had all the tools to be a star.
But Clark still hadn’t dealt with his demons and, while he reached the Tour in short measure, there were times when he became so frustrated with his play that he was ready to quit again. Indeed, he withdrew from the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2020, citing a back injury but he could’ve just as easily cited his attitude. Strangely enough, Ellis had a reputation during his playing days for being a hot head too, the type of player who didn’t hesitate to snap a club in half if it was misbehaving.
But as a caddie for the past six years, he’d been a calming influence for Clark. As Clark continued to run hot, Ellis and the rest of Clark’s team orchestrated an intervention in November 2022 and suggested he meet with Julie Elion, a mental coach who has helped the likes of Phil Mickelson and Jimmy Walker win majors. He was reluctant at first, but as part of their work, Clark has benefited from meditating, praying, keeping a journal and setting daily goals. It isn’t Elion’s style to take credit – “I just held up the mirror,” she said – but Clark and his team are quick to say his improved attitude and growing confidence were the missing ingredient in his success.
Wyndham Clark hits his tee shot on the 16th during the third round of the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club. (Photo: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
At the Wells Fargo Championship, Clark’s mental game was put to the test. He opened with a pair of 67s and then catapulted into the lead with a remarkable 8-under 63 in the third round. That day, Clark hit the first 17 greens before tugging his approach to the final green just enough that his ball settled on the fringe, missing perfection by inches.
“I mean, no, I wasn’t thinking about that,” he said, when asked if he was aware of what he almost accomplished. “I was more thinking I just hope that ball’s not going in the water … the only stat I care about is where I finish at the end of the tournament.”
Clark and Schauffele, who shot 64, had played so well on Saturday that they were three strokes clear of the field, and the trophy hunt turned into a two-man fight on a sunny Sunday.
Clark had come close to winning – he had 14 top 10s on the PGA Tour – but he struggled in final rounds, getting “too amped up,” and dwelling on bad shots. He had zero PGA Tour wins in 133 previous starts and in his dark moments, he would complain that he was destined to never win a Tour event.
“I know that sounds crazy because I’ve only been out here five years, but I had a lot of chances to where I was within two or three shots either going into the back nine or starting on a Sunday and I always seem to fall short, and not only that, but seem like I fell back in positions,” Clark explained. “I think in the past I sometimes shied away maybe from those pressure moments because I would get too amped up.”
Leading into the Tour’s annual stop in Charlotte, it seemed more than ever that it was a matter of when not if he’d win. He was trending in the right direction, finishing in the top six in three of the last five tournaments he’d entered, including a third-place finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a two-man team event, in his previous start.
Clark, who arrived in Charlotte as the world’s 80th ranked player, opened the final round with a two-shot lead, but he pulled his tee shot left on No. 1 over the cart path and made a shaky bogey. Schauffele sense an opportunity and vaulted into the lead with birdies at Nos. 3 and 7. Was this going to be another case of Clark buckling under the pressure of trying to win his first tournament? Not this time.
“I just told myself to relax, I have a lot more holes,” said Clark. “In the past, it always seemed so tough for me on Sundays. Today, I wouldn’t let my mind go in that direction. I just kept reminding myself that I can play great golf. … And I didn’t want to be the person that I was in previous Sundays in previous years, because that person probably shoots 2- or 3-over (par) today, or even more, and loses his head and gets mad out there and doesn’t control his emotions.”
Play big ❤️
Remembering his mom, these are words @Wyndham_Clark lives by on and off the course.
The momentum changed between the eighth and 12th holes, with Clark gaining a stroke on each of them. He chipped to within 4 feet at the par-5 eighth and rolled in the birdie putt to pull back into a tie and then took the lead for good at the turn when Schauffele’s par putt lipped out on No. 9. Clark kept the pressure on sinking birdie putts at No. 10 and 12 sandwiched in between a Schauffele bogey on No. 11 and his own dazzling up and down from the bunker, pushing the lead to four strokes with six holes left to play.
“A buzzsaw,” is how Schauffele described the way Clark stormed back.
Clark matched Schauffele’s birdies at the 14th and 15th holes to maintain a four-shot edge heading into the difficult closing three holes known as the Green Mile. As former PGA Championship winner Rich Beem, who was commentating for Sky Sports, said to fellow commentator Colt Knost, “How is somebody 20 under par on this golf course?”
Clark led the field in Strokes-Gained Tee to Green, greens in regulation and SG: Approach, and ranked third in SG: Putting – that’s how – a lethal combination.Clark played the final three holes in 1 over, bogeying the 18th before hugging Ellis and lifting his arms aloft. Clark won $3.6 million out of the total purse of $20 million with the victory. It also convinced Clark once and for all that he had found a better mental space.
“Finally winning, it was like, ‘All right, this stuff actually works,’” Clark said of his emphasis early last season on the mental side of the game.
“The Wells Fargo was so healing for him,” Elion said in as episode of season two of the Netflix documentary “Full Swing, which traced Clark’s journey. “That lifted years and years of pain.”
The weight of expectation had been lifted, too, said Clark’s college coach, Martin: “Like, ‘Oh, I’ve justified my talent. I’m not a failure,’ you know, kind of a deal. He is a huge talent. I mean, he’s not a medium talent. He is a massive, massive talent. I mean, top 10 player in the world talent wise, for sure. If he just, you know, doesn’t get in his own way, which is easier said than done.”
What a beautiful mind Clark had all along. He proved to himself at Quail Hollow that he’s one of the best players in the world and he’s been ‘playing big’ ever since.
The field is 69 at the signature event with a purse of $20 million.
Ludvig Aberg withdrew from the Wells Fargo Championship on Monday due to a knee injury.
Aberg, 24, issued a statement via the PGA Tour, which failed to disclose whether it was his right or left knee.
“I’m reaching out to let you all know that I’m going to have to withdraw from the Wells Fargo Championship. I was very excited to tee it up at Quail Hollow for the first time. Unfortunately, I’m dealing with a knee issue and after consulting with my doctors, we think it’s best that I take some additional time to rest. I hope everyone has a great week and I look forward to teeing it up next week,” said Aberg, ranked No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Next week’s tournament is the PGA Championship. Aberg finished second at the Masters in April, his first major.
Peter Malnati, who was already exempt as a current-year tournament winner, moves into the Aon Next 10 category. The field, which was already without world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, is 69 at the signature event with a purse of $20 million.
Ludvig Åberg WD from the Wells Fargo Championship.
Peter Malnati, who was already exempt as a current-year tournament winner, moves into the Aon Next 10 category. The field is now 69 players. pic.twitter.com/X0sTiuGlIP
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) May 6, 2024
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On Coronation weekend it’s only fitting a first-time PGA Tour winner would be crowned in the Queen City.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Seeing as it’s Coronation weekend across the pond in the United Kingdom, it’s only fitting a first-time PGA Tour winner would be crowned in the Queen City.
After five long years, the wait is over for Wyndham Clark.
Clark held a two-shot lead over world No. 5 Xander Schauffele and said after Saturday’s third round he was looking forward to the challenge of a high-stakes final round and was curious how he’d handle the pressure. The 29-year-old shot a 3-under 68 on Sunday at Quail Hollow to finish at 19 under and win by four shots over Schauffele for his maiden victory on Tour.
After a handful of close calls, Clark was truly beginning to wonder if he’d ever win on Tour.
“I know that sounds crazy because I’ve only been out here five years, but I had a lot of chances to where I was within two or three shots either going into the back nine or starting on a Sunday and I always seem to fall short, and not only that, but seem like I fell back in positions,” Clark explained. “I think in the past I sometimes shied away maybe from those pressure moments because I would get too amped up.”
“Today, I was excited. When he made putts, I was like, ‘yeah, all right, now I’ve got to do it.’ I just think Xander and I fed off each other really well Saturday and Sunday,” Clark continued. “He played amazing and I think a lot of how good I played was because he was putting pressure on me. So I just felt like all right, I can’t just coast in and make a bunch of pars, I’ve got to make birdies. Yeah, I really like how I handled the pressure.”
Schauffele, 29, shot a 1-under 70 on Sunday to finish runner-up at 15 under and inside the top five for the fifth time this season. Harris English (69) and Tyrrell Hatton (70) finished T-3 at 12 under.
Clark bogeyed the first hole and Schauffele birdied the third to tie the lead at 15 under before he briefly took the solo lead with another birdie on the par-5 7th hole, the second easiest hole of the week. It didn’t take long for Clark to respond with his first birdie of the day on No. 8, and a Schauffele bogey on the ninth returned the lead to Clark with nine holes to play.
“Sure, early on it wasn’t as pretty as I wanted and I didn’t maintain the lead, but as I started making birdies and putts, I started to really believe that I could do this,” said Clark. “And fortunately Xander made some mistakes and then it really propelled me to continue playing well.”
Clark extended the lead to two with a birdie on the par-5 10th, and after a poor tee shot on the 11th found the pine straw among the trees, he managed a crucial up-and-down from the greenside bunker to save par and increase his lead to three after a bad Schauffele bogey. He then took a four-shot lead with six to play with a birdie on No. 12.
Both players made consecutive birdies on Nos. 14 and 15, but Schauffele’s third bogey of the day on the par-3 17th gave Clark a four-shot lead and the win.
Play big ❤️
Remembering his mom, these are words @Wyndham_Clark lives by on and off the course.
While Clark may not be a household name, if you’ve been paying attention this season you’d know a victory was coming sooner rather than later for the Scottsdale, Arizona, resident. After a career-best Players Championship finish earlier this year in March (T-27), Clark has consistently been in the mix ever since with consecutive finishes of 5-6-T29-3-T24 entering this week. In 19 starts this season, Clark now has nine top-25 finishes, with six inside the top 10.
As the PGA Tour’s ninth designated event of the season, the 156-player field was competing for a $20 million purse. Clark took home the top prize of $3.6 million, a whopping seven times more than his previous largest paycheck on Tour, $485,000 after a 10th-place finish at the 2023 WM Phoenix Open.
The win doesn’t just earn Clark a massive payday, it also earns him a spot in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool as well as his first-ever Masters invitation for the 2024 event at Augusta National.
“I’ve dreamt about this since I was probably 6 years old,” said Clark. “Since I’ve been on the PGA Tour, you fantasize about it all the time, and I’ve done it multiple times this year where I catch myself daydreaming about winning, and to do it at this golf course against this competition is better than I could ever have imagined.”
“I really walked up (the 18th fairway) and I tried to do as good a job as possible to stay in the present but also look around and keep my head up and look at the sight and having all those people there,” he said. “You only can win your first tournament once, so I was really trying to soak it all in.”
Moving Day at Quail Hollow didn’t disappoint, especially in the afternoon.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Moving Day at the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship did not disappoint.
Shortly after the final pairing of Tyrrell Hatton and Nate Lashley teed off at Quail Hollow Club on Saturday there was an 11-way tie atop the leaderboard, and no, that’s not a typo.
The standings were bunched for the early part of the afternoon before Wyndham Clark and Xander Schauffele eventually separated from the pack. Paired together in the penultimate group, Clark fired the low round of the week with a bogey-free 8-under 63 to take the lead at 16 under, while Schauffele was just one shot worse with a 7-under 64 to sit solo second at 14 under.
Fans also saw a Monday qualifier step into the spotlight, a five-time winner become a snake charmer and a left-handed shot you have to see to believe. Here’s what we learned from Saturday’s third round at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Everything you need to know for the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship.
At one point during the third round of the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club, there were 11 players tied for the lead.
However, with 18 holes to play, it’s Wyndham Clark who has pulled away and paces the field. Clark was flawless in his round of 8-under 63, moving to 16 under for the tournament and a two-shot lead with 18 holes separating him from his first PGA Tour victory.
However, Xander Schauffele is hot on his trail. Schauffele carded a 7-under 64, including two bogeys, and is in second at 14 under. Tyrrell Hatton, who was tied for the 36-hole lead, is tied for third with Adam Scott at 11 under.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for Sunday’s final round of the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship. All times Eastern.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3413″ ]
1st tee
Tee time
Players
7:40 a.m.
Nick Hardy, Ryan Armour
7:50 a.m.
Stewart Cink, Webb Simpson
8 a.m.
Austin Eckroat, Justin Suh
8:10 a.m.
Henrik Norlander, Cameron Davis
8:20 a.m.
David Lingmerth, Zac Blair
8:30 a.m.
Callum Tarren, Kramer Hickok
8:40 a.m.
Cameron Young, Alejandro Tosti
8:50 a.m.
Joseph Bramlett, Hayden Buckley
9 a.m.
Sam Stevens, Rory McIlroy
9:10 a.m.
Sahith Theegala, Chris Kirk
9:25 a.m.
Matt Fitzpatrick, Keith Mitchell
9:35 a.m.
Francesco Molinari, Harrison Endycott
9:45 a.m.
Trey Mullinax, Chad Ramey
9:55 a.m.
Si Woo Kim, MJ Daffue
10:05 a.m.
Stephan Jaeger, Tony Finau
10:15 a.m.
Akshay Bhatia, Beau Hossler
10:30 a.m.
Denny McCarthy, Patrick Cantlay
10:40 a.m.
Trace Crowe, Taylor Moore
10:50 a.m.
Ryan Palmer, Keegan Bradley
11 a.m.
Tom Kim, Emiliano Grillo
11:10 a.m.
Jimmy Walker, Mark Hubbard
11:20 a.m.
J.J. Spaun, K.H. Lee
11:35 a.m.
Kevin Streelman, Matthew NeSmith
11:45 a.m.
Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler
11:55 a.m.
Doug Ghim, Dylan Wu
12:05 p.m.
Alex Smalley, Seamus Power
12:15 p.m.
Nate Lashley, Viktor Hovland
12:25 p.m.
Adam Svensson, Justin Thomas
12:40 p.m.
Max Homa, Michael Kim
12:50 p.m.
Corey Conners, Gary Woodland
1 p.m.
Brendon Todd, Sungjae Im
1:10 p.m.
Tommy Fleetwood, Harris English
1:20 p.m.
Tyrrell Hatton, Adam Scott
1:30 p.m.
Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele
TV, streaming, radio information
You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV. ESPN+ is the exclusive home for PGA Tour Live streaming. All times Eastern.
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