Wyndham Clark tried to pull his hat over his eyes with both hands as he struggled to hold back tears on the 18th green at Quail Hollow Club after winning his first PGA Tour event at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C.
The long, agonizing wait that included days on tour when he wanted to “break some clubs” were over.
It was time to celebrate.
“I’m a little choked up,” Clark said on the green. “It’s been a long five years (on tour) to get to this point. I thought I would have won one earlier, but it is well worth the wait.”
Clark shot 68 on Sunday for a four-shot victory over Xander Schauffele.
He finished the tournament at 19-under 265, the second-lowest score in relation to par in tournament history behind only three-time champion Rory McIlroy’s 21-under 267 in 2015 when par for the course was 72.
Schauffele had accuracy issues with his driver on Sunday and shot 70, finishing at 15 under.
Tyrrell Hatton and Harry English finished tied for third at 12 under, one shot better than Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott. Defending champion Max Homa shot 70 on Sunday and tied for ninth at 9-under 275.
“There are so many times that I wanted to cry and break clubs — and I did break clubs at times — in this journey,” Clark said. “But to get to this point is so sweet. It is just amazing to finally do this.”
“To go and put that round of 63 together (on Saturday) and finish at 19 under is a fantastic effort,” Hatton said. “Yeah, he deserves to be holding that trophy.”
Clark’s win didn’t come easy — fitting for his career.
The world’s 80th ranked player opened the final round with a two-shot lead, surrendered it to Schauffele after seven holes and then stormed back to win after playing the final 11 holes in 4 under.
PGA Tour Champions
Stephen Ames capped off his dominant week on the TPC Sugarloaf with a 4-under 68 that gave him the tournament scoring record and a four-shot victory in the Mitsubishi Electric Classic in Duluth, Ga.
Ames joined David Toms as the only multiple winners on the PGA Tour Champions this year. Ames finished at 19-under 197 to break his own 54-hole record at Sugarloaf by four shots.
Miguel Angel Jimenez birdied the final hole for a 68 to finish alone in second.
DP World Tour
A morning pep talk from European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald in the locker room. Then a trophy ceremony at the Marco Simone club outside Rome.
That’s just what Adrian Meronk has been dreaming about, and the Polish golfer’s Ryder Cup ambitions are starting to look like they might become a reality after he won the Italian Open less than five months before the sport’s biggest team event is held on the same course.
Meronk finished at 13-under overall with a 2-under 69 for a one-stroke win over Romain Langasque.
LPGA
Atthaya Thitikul birdied the 16th hole to cap a dominating week that carried Thailand to victory over Australia for the country’s first International Crown team match play title.
Thitikul beat Stephanie Kyriacou 4 and 2 to move to 5-0 this week and earn the final’s clinching point in San Francisco.
The United States beat Sweden in the consolation match to finish third.