Wyndham Clark signed for a flawless 7-under 64 to take a one-shot lead at the WM Phoenix Open, his lowest opening round on Tour since a 64 in the first round of the 2023 US Open.
“I haven’t played my best golf the last few weeks, so it’s nice to kind of have a clean round where we did a lot of good things,” said the American. “I was really patient and kind of eased my way into the round. I didn’t start off slow, but I just wasn’t necessarily making birdies, and Akshay [Bhatia] came out with kind of a hot start. Then we had that little stretch where we made four in a row, which was really nice.
“Then I just kind of handled either some errant shots or whatever it was coming down the stretch, and I feel really pleased with the round.
“I made a couple of adjustments in my equipment this week]. I moved my irons back half a degree more upright, which always helps for me. Then really it was just more of good start lines and kind of where we were trying to finish it was pretty conservative, so we hit a lot of greens, and when we got a wedge it was kind of a green light and we took advantage.”
Americans Taylor Moore and Lee Hodges both carded 65s for a share of second place at 6-under. Moore made an eagle at the par-5 3rd hole as well as a pair of bogeys while Hodges eagled the par-5 15th and par-4 17th and also bogeyed two holes.
Adam Schenk of the United States closed with a bogey-free 66 for a share of fourth place at 5-under alongside compatriots Justin Thomas, Andrew Putnam and Akshay Bhatia as well as Dane Nicolai Højgaard and Colombian Camilo Villegas.
Villegas is playing in his final year of a tournament winner exemption from his most recent of five PGA Tour wins at the 2023 Bermuda Championship. He failed to record a top-10 in 26 starts during the 2024 season and has missed two cuts in three starts this season.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler lies in T27 at 2-under after eagles at the par-4 10th, where he holed out from a fairway bunker from 104 yards, and at the par-5 15th, three birdies as well as three bogeys and a double bogey at the par-3 12th.
Play was suspended due to darkness at 6:13 p.m. with nine players yet to complete their round. The first round will resume on Friday at 8:15 a.m. The second round will begin as scheduled at 7:20 a.m.
