CASTLE ROCK — The hometown hero’s tee shot caught the Wynd just right.
But he and his caddy were second-guessing themselves moments before.
Two rounds into the BMW Championship, a mile-high hole-in-one has eluded all 50 golfers, though a handful of them have nearly struck gold on the 11th and 16th holes at Castle Pines Golf Club. Nobody has come closer than Wyndham Clark, whose 229-yard drive Friday trickled to a stop 11 inches from glory on the 16th.
It could’ve transpired much differently. Clark was briefly unsure which club he should use after watching Rory McIlroy’s tee shot. The Valor Christian High School alum was visibly on the fence, choosing between two options.
“We never actually changed our mind,” Clark explained afterward. “Rory just confused us. Because we thought it was seven-iron all day, and then Rory hit (his) seven-iron and barely covered. So then we were questioning it.
“Then the wind quickly switched, so we thought of going to the six-iron. Then I just felt like it was too tough to fit a six-iron back there, and the wind went back to a predominant southwest wind, and then John and I just said, ‘Just hit it hard and it should be good.’ I didn’t think it was going to get that far.”
The shot easily cleared the water in front of the green and landed within a couple of feet of the hole, rolling a short distance to its resting place. Clark tapped it in for a birdie, his fifth of the day en route to a successful second round at 4 under par.
“To walk up there and have it be only six inches was a nice delight,” he said.
Followed again by fans hurling their local pride at him — “Go Eagles!” multiple groups yelled Friday, referring to Valor’s mascot — Clark has been uniquely burdened by the expectation of rising to the occasion this weekend. For Colorado. For Denver. He has met those expectations relatively well so far thanks to his second-round score, which elevated him into a tie for 10th place halfway through the competition.
But ironically, he’s more proud of his overall performance Thursday, when he shot even.
“I thought I played better yesterday. I mean, I had four water balls yesterday, and I shot even par,” Clark said. “Take those away, it’s probably a five- (or) six-under round, and we would be at nine (or) 10-under. All in all, I’ve played really good.”
His score also notably leads McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, the three highest-ranked golfers in the world. Clark is ranked fifth. The four of them happened to converge Friday, a happy coincidence that might turn out to be the most quietly memorable moment of the week for spectators who’ve been hungry to have professional golf back in Colorado.
While the pairing of Scheffler and Schauffele was teeing off at the ninth hole, McIlroy and Clark were standing by, waiting their turn for the same launchpad to come available — to be used on the 18th hole for them. It’s a quirk of the course. It yielded a novel moment: arguably the four biggest names competing in the event, all together in one place.
“There’s not many double tees in professional golf,” Clark said. “… You don’t really have … some of the four best players on the same tee, kind of hitting different shots. That was kind of unique. It’s also cool (that) we’re all friends, and we’re all trying to do the same thing. Yeah, it was a cool experience.”
The moment is unlikely to be replicated, either. They each go their separate ways Saturday. The leaderboard dictates pairings from now on. Clark is matched with Patrick Cantlay, teeing off at 10:55 a.m. as he tries to chase down Adam Scott and the other top scorers.
“I’ve handled the pressure pretty well,” Clark assessed. “It’s not always easy coming home and being the hometown kid and (overcoming) all the expectations on me. I feel like I’ve done a good job thus far.”
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