MIAMI (AFP) — Wyndham Clark conjured two birdies in his final three holes to open up a two-shot lead after the opening round of the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida on Thursday.

World number seven Clark, the 2023 US Open champion, fired a five-under-par 67 to edge clear of the field at Bay Hill on a day when gusty winds made for challenging conditions.

The 31-year-old Clark separated himself from the pack after rolling in an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-five 16th, before a brilliant second shot on the 18th left him with a tap-in for birdie.

It marked an encouraging opening round for Clark, who finished a runner-up to Scottie Scheffler at last year’s tournament. 

“It’s nice to put some good numbers on this golf course and if anything it’s really good momentum for the rest of the week,” Clark said.

With winds of up to 30 miles per hour buffeting the course throughout the day, Clark took advantage of a late afternoon lull to make his move over the final few holes.

“The last five holes it calmed down a little bit,” Clark said. “But then it was tough to find where the wind was, so that’s a challenge in itself... maybe the last four holes were easier.”

Clark had grabbed his first birdie of the day on the par-three second hole before a bogey on the third sent him back to level par.

But back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth left him two under at the turn, before a bogey-free back nine punctuated with three birdies vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard.

Clark leads from a group of four players knotted on three under: Keegan Bradley, Canada’s Corey Conners, South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who all carded 69s to finish on three under.

Lowry flirted with finishing the day on top of the leaderboard after a superb eagle three at the par-five 16th, where his second shot from 195 yards left him with a six-foot putt that he duly rolled in.

Lowry admitted he had benefited from more benign afternoon conditions after watching the windswept morning with an increasing sense of dread. 

“It didn’t look much fun out there — I wasn’t particularly looking forward to my round,” Lowry said. “But I think we got favorable conditions. I was pretty happy with my result.”

Lowry’s playing partner, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, is one of five players tied for sixth place on two under after shooting a 70.

Afternoon reprieve

McIlroy endured a see-saw round that included six birdies but was littered with four bogeys, including a five on the par-four 18th.

Nevertheless, the four-time major winner was pleased with his start. 

“I think the guys that teed off a little later got a little bit of a reprieve,” McIlroy said. 

“It was still breezy, but not quite as tough as the guys got it this morning. Yeah, couple under was a good start.”

Defending champion Scheffler, meanwhile, was lurking a shot adrift of McIlroy in a heavyweight cluster of four players on one under which includes Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay.

World number one Scheffler admitted he was taken aback by cooler temperatures and the early wind lashing the course.

“This morning when I walked out of the house it was a lot colder than I anticipated — I had to go back and grab a few extra layers,” said Scheffler, adding that the contrasting conditions of fairways and greens had also proved challenging.

“A lot of the fairways are really soft, but the greens are like concrete — so it can be really challenging to get the ball close to the hole,” he said.