Wyndham Clark hits back after fresh rules controversy

Former US Open champion Wyndham Clark has weighed in on the potentially ‘unfair’ rules controversy he encountered last week.

Teeing up at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Clark’s drive on the par-4 third bounced into the air before returning to its own pitch mark.

The 31-year-old took free relief after finding his ball plugged and has now made his feelings clear on the bizarre incident.

“Obviously I found out after the round,” he said ahead of The PLAYERS. “I have a few comments on this rule in general.

“So, I approached scoring, and they approached me like, ‘hey, there’s something that’s going to come up in media about what happened on 3’. I was like, ‘on 3?’

“I hit it in the middle of the fairway, hit it on the green and two-putt. I’m like, what are you talking about. He goes; ‘it’s your drop’.

“I was like, what do you mean, did I do an improper drop? He said, well, we didn’t know if you were plugged. Long story short is you’re okay.”

• “I ruptured my Achilles last year. This is what faces Tiger Woods.”

• Brooks Koepka casts doubt over LIV future

Of course, the PGA Tour cleared Clark of any wrongdoing, as the Rules Committee confirmed he did not violate any rules.

Had his ball rolled into a different pitch mark, the 2023 US Open champion would have been penalised for taking free relief.

And it’s left Clark with a sour feeling towards the rule, insisting he wasn’t trying to cheat but simply was unable to see the ball land.

“They showed me the video and it leads me to thinking, well, how are we supposed to know,” he added. “We were 300 some yards away.

“We didn’t see the ball bounce from our distance, and we get up there and it’s plugged. How was I supposed to know? No one told us.

“So, my frustration was that if I did get stroked, how is that my fault when no one told me that I rolled into something — if I did roll into someone else’s pitch mark?

“That’s one of those rules in golf where it’s like, why are we making this so complicated? I can’t see that, and if the volunteers don’t tell me and I get stroked for something that I didn’t know happened, it kind of seems unfair.

“But I am glad that it was correct because I wasn’t trying to cheat by any means. We just walked up, ball was plugged, took an embedded ball rule.”

• The extraordinary (and exhausting) life of golf’s most travelled tour pro

• Has LIV been good for golf? Justin Thomas isn’t convinced…

It’s not the first time Clark has been tangled in the rule book, neither was it the first time at Bay Hill.

At last year’s tournament, footage appeared to show Clark tapping down the grass directly behind his ball, causing it to move enough for armchair referees to take a pop.

Again, the American was cleared of wrongdoing and afterwards called on the Rules of Golf to be ‘dumbed down’.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.