Clark opens with 1-shot lead

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Former US Open champion Wyndham Clark fired seven birdies in a seven-under par 64 to take a one-shot lead on Thursday in the first round of the US PGA Tour Phoenix Open.

Clark said patience was key at TPC Scottsdale, where he delivered his bogey-free round on a sunny afternoon to put himself in a good position after a disappointing tie for 73rd in his title defense at Pebble Beach last week.

“I was very discouraged,” admitted Clark, who had also missed the cut at La Quinta in January. “It’s been a pretty crappy few, three weeks.”

Clark opened a morale-boosting round with an eight-foot birdie at the first and launched a run of four straight birdies with a 16-footer at the eighth.

He rolled in a 14-foot birdie putt at the ninth, landed his shot from a fairway bunker at the 10th within eight feet and made that for birdie, then made a four-foot birdie at 11.

After taking the lead with birdies at the 13th and 15th, he salvaged par at 17 despite hitting the water with his tee shot.

His third shot left him little more than a foot for par, and Clark said his work in recent days in trying to shake negative thoughts helped him regroup there at what should have been a birdie hole.

“Honestly, it’s such a relief to have a round where you’re like, okay, all the work I did put in these last few weeks and last couple days have kind of all come to fruition and you have a great round,” he said.

Americans Taylor Moore and Lee Hodges were tied for second on six-under.

Hodges, who won his only title to date at the 2023 3M Open, had two eagles in his 65.

He rolled in a four-footer for eagle at the par-five 15th — his sixth hole of the day — then chipped in for eagle at the par-four 17th.

“Actually hit it in a really bad spot off the tee,” he said of 17.

“(I) hit the best chip that I could and it just hit the flag and went in. You get good breaks and bad breaks.”

Moore’s round featured an 11-foot eagle at the par-five third hole, which helped him leapfrog over a group of six players sharing fourth on five-under that included Justin Thomas.

Thomas had six birdies in his 66, shaking off an early bogey and punctuating his round with a 15-foot birdie at his final hole, the ninth.

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.

Scheffler, making his second start since suffering a puncture wound in his hand in a Christmas cooking accident, thrilled the crowd when he holed a 104-yard shot from a fairway bunker for eagle at the 10th.

He found the water at 12 on the way to a double-bogey but bounced back with a birdie at 13, a seven-foot eagle at 15 and one last birdie at the 17th.