Former US Open champion Wyndham Clark fired seven birdies in a seven-under par 64 to take a one-shot lead on Thursday within the first spherical of the $US9 million ($A14m) US PGA Tour Phoenix Open.
It got here as world No.1 Scottie Scheffler carded a roller-coaster two-under par 69 that featured two eagles, a double-bogey, three bogeys and three birdies, whereas Min Woo Lee — the only Australian within the discipline — made a stable begin.
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Clark mentioned endurance was key at TPC Scottsdale, the place he delivered his bogey-free spherical on a sunny afternoon to place himself in a very good place after a disappointing tie for 73rd in his title protection at Pebble Seashore final week.
“I used to be very discouraged,” admitted Clark, who had additionally missed the lower at La Quinta in January. “It’s been a fairly crappy few, three weeks.” Clark opened a morale-boosting spherical with an eight-foot birdie on the first and launched a run of 4 straight birdies with a 16-footer on the eighth.
He rolled in a 14-foot birdie putt on the ninth, landed his shot from a fairway bunker on the tenth inside eight ft and made that for birdie, then made a four-foot birdie at 11.
After taking the lead with birdies on the thirteenth and fifteenth he salvaged par at 17 regardless of hitting the water together with his tee shot.
His third shot left him little greater than a foot for par, and Clark mentioned his work in current days in attempting to shake detrimental ideas helped him regroup there at what ought to have been a birdie gap.
“Actually, it’s such a reduction to have a spherical the place you’re like, OK, all of the work I did put in these previous couple of weeks and final couple days have sort of all come to fruition and you’ve got an excellent spherical,” he mentioned.
Individuals Taylor Moore and Lee Hodges had been tied for second on six-under. Hodges, who received his solely title so far on the 2023 3M Open, had two eagles in his 65.
He rolled in a four-footer for eagle on the par-five fifteenth — his sixth gap of the day — then chipped in for eagle on the par-four seventeenth.
“Really hit it in a extremely unhealthy spot off the tee,” he mentioned of 17. “(I) hit one of the best chip that I may and it simply hit the flag and went in. You get good breaks and unhealthy breaks.” Moore’s spherical featured an 11-foot eagle on the par-five third gap, which helped him leapfrog over a bunch of six gamers sharing fourth on five-under that included Justin Thomas.
Thomas had six birdies in his 66, shaking off an early bogey and punctuating his spherical with a 15-foot birdie at his ultimate gap, the ninth.
Scheffler, making his second begin since struggling a puncture wound in his hand in a Christmas cooking accident, thrilled the gang when he holed a 104-yard shot from a fairway bunker for eagle on the tenth. Remarkably it got here after he earlier fully shanked what appeared a regulation bunker shot.
He discovered the water at 12 on the way in which to a double-bogey however bounced again with a birdie at 13, a seven-foot eagle at 15 and one final birdie on the seventeenth.
Min Woo Lee hit three birdies and two bogeys to card a one-under 70 and sit tied forty fourth after spherical one.
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