Wyndham's '60' ways to a win a golf tournament
Clark snaps frustrating drought with a birdie blitz to rally in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Wyndham Clark got back in the winning saddle in Texas (Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
There’s no bullet-proof way to end a victory drought on the PGA Tour. But shooting 60 in the final round works pretty well.
Just ask Wyndham Clark. He shot 60 in what turned out to be the final round of the weather-shortened 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a number good enough to win by one shot.
More than two frustrating years later for the former U.S. Open champion, Clark shot another 60 in the final round of CJ Cup Byron Nelson. His 11-under Sunday — which included an uncatchable 28 on the back — was good for a 30-under-par 254 at TPC Craig Ranch and a three-shot victory over Si Woo Kim.
“This is obviously very special, but it’s pretty awesome to do it at Pebble, such an iconic golf course,” Clark said in comparing his pair of winning 60s in the last two of his four PGA Tour wins. “Any time you win and any time you do it in the fashion I did is very special. At Pebble I didn’t have any family and friends there. This one I had my girlfriend, my brother and his fiancee, and a bunch of other friends. So this one is very special in that sense.”
It was a really big deal for Clark, who had fallen from a high of No. 3 in the world to 75th without a top-10 finish since last summer’s Open Championship while hitting some frustrating depths that included destructive tantrums at the 2025 PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
“The greatest thing about having a downfall like that is to come back,” said Clark, who thanked all of his sponsors for sticking with him after he made ugly headlines by destroying his locker in frustration at Oakmont. “Today feels really special after having a really tough year and grinding it out.
“It’s been a pretty heavy fall since being — I was even up to third in the world at some point in ’24. Yeah, it’s frustrating, but that’s golf. I went through kind of a tough spurt, not swinging it good, not feeling comfortable with a lot of things, and I did a lot of work this offseason working on my golf swing. Then I started hitting it better but wasn’t making the putts. Then finally landed on a great putter, and then everything’s been kind of coming together.
“Needless to say, it feels amazing to be back in the winners’ circle. I feel like my game’s trending in a great direction to continue to have success through the rest of the year.”
Clark started Sunday’s final round in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, Texas, tied with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler two shots behind Kim. He made it clear early that he was the player most likely to put pressure on the leader with four birdies in his first six holes. Kim made enough birdies himself to remain a step ahead until Clark made a 15-footer for eagle on the par-5 12th to take his first lead.
Si Woo birdied 12 to reclaim a share of the lead, but Clark birdied four of the last five holes to leave no doubt. He made a short birdie on 14 and drained a 44-footer for birdie on 15 to take control and added another at the par-3 17th to take a two-shot lead to the last, where he slammed the door with a stiff approach from 172 yards to set up a clinching birdie.
“Man, it was pretty amazing,” Clark said. “Obviously I made a birdie on 14, and I look and Si Woo’s right there on my heels. Then I birdied 15, and I just knew I had to keep birdieing because I knew Si Woo was probably going to do the same thing, or even Scottie. I felt pretty comfortable, but I knew I had to put the pedal to the metal and keep making birdies. I made more than I thought I was going to make, that’s for sure.”
Clark gained more than 12-and-a-half strokes on the field putting on the week, his first time leading the field in putting since his Pebble Beach victory. For the season he was ranked 137th in strokes gained putting. He made more than 157 feet of putts on Sunday.
“I’ve been in the zone before. Like at Pebble, that was a crazy zone, just simply because that golf course and the putts I was making was almost like out of this world just because those greens are so difficult,” Clark said.
“Here it just almost felt like I was playing at home, and every hole was a new hole. I didn’t worry that I just made six birdies or that I needed to make more. I just was like, all right, I have this 20-footer. I see it left edge, and I’d hit it, and it would go in. It was a different zone than I’ve been in before, that’s for sure.”
Clark is now the first player to ever win twice with finishing rounds of 60. Only three other players have ever shot 60 or better in the final round to win on tour: David Duval (1999 American Express, 59), Stuart Appleby (2010 Greenbrier Classic, 59) and Tommy Gainey (2012 RSM Classic, 60).
“Two different experiences … both were equally amazing,” Clark said of his 60s. “It’s a nice accolade to have.
“I look at Pebble, it was amazing, but that one, I was so close to shooting 59. At that golf course, that would have been just epic. This one, really 59 wasn’t necessarily in the cards. So it’s just amazing to finish. I’m just really proud of myself that I didn’t waver and I didn’t sit back and just try to hit to 20 feet and kind of leak my way in there. I was still very aggressive.”
Until Clark chased him down and sailed past on Sunday, it looked like Kim would collect his fifth tour win and first since the 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii. Kim separated himself to a five-shot lead at the halfway mark with a second-round 60 despite a bogey on his final hole after airmailing the green to miss joining the 59 club.
“I hit it great and putted great. So everything was perfect, other than the last hole,” said Kim. “I’ll still take it. Sixty is hard, but I was a little bit of thinking about the 59 after I make that on 17. It was a little bit of like adrenalin.”
Kim’s 6-under 65 on Sunday was good for runner-up at 27-under. He made 33 birdies for the week —five more than the second-most 28 made by Clark — and came up two birdies shy of the PGA Tour’s 72-hole record 35 made by Hideki Matsuyama at the 2025 Sentry at Kapalua.
“I think it’s pretty much the best play I’ve ever had,” said Kim. “I’m a little frustrated, but nothing I can do. Wyndham played so good. Congrats to Wyndham.”
Scheffler finished alone in third at 25-under with a 65 of his own, his sixth finish inside the top four since winning his season-opening start at The American Express. Scheffler has finished inside the top 25 in 32 consecutive tournaments.