Sixth place in Corales Puntacana Championship gives Colorado native Wyndham Clark his best-ever back-to-back finishes on the PGA Tour; former Air Force Academy golfer Tom Whitney a career-best runner-up on Korn Ferry Tour
By Gary Baines – 3/26/2023
Wyndham Clark didn’t get the victory he was after on Sunday after holding the lead outright through seven holes of the final round of the Corales Puntacana Championship. Still, the Colorado native accomplished something he never has before in his PGA Tour career.
The 29-year-old Valor Christian graduate finished sixth on Sunday in the Dominican Republic. Coming on the heels of a fifth-place showing on March 19 at the Valspar Championship, Clark recorded back-to-back top-six finishes on the PGA Tour for the first time.
Clark completed a run of four straight weeks on the PGA Tour in which he placed 34th, 27th, fifth and sixth.
Perhaps even more impressive: Clark extended his made-cut streak to 12, with four top-10s during the run. It’s little wonder why he’s moved all the way up to 35th on the season-long FedExCup standings. His stroke average over those 12 events, which features some very difficult golf courses: 69.46.
“It’s my fifth year on Tour,” Clark said on Friday. “Some guys progress quicker than others. I think I’ve gotten my feet under me a little bit better out here. I’m hitting the ball a lot better than I did in my previous years.
“Now in the last few weeks I’ve started to putt better so I’m kind of combining the two of hitting it better and now putting better. And then I just had a better frame of mind; I’m a little more relaxed and patient out there. So I’d say it’s just a little bit more seasoned and mature in my game and I think that’s kind of what’s going good.”
Clark came into Sunday’s final round just a stroke out of the lead, then played his first seven holes in 4 under par to vault into the solo lead. But No. 7 turned out to be his last birdie, and he bogeyed Nos. 8 and 12 to fall back to sixth place, four strokes behind winner Matt Wallace. Wallace picked up his first PGA Tour victory, something Clark is still seeking.
Sunday marked Clark’s fourth top-10 of the season and 13th of his career, with an all-time best showing of a playoff runner-up. Clark’s only previous back-to-back top-10s on the PGA Tour were a 10th in the Puerto Rico Open and a seventh in the Honda Classic in 2019.
“In these last six, seven weeks I’ve been within the last five groups almost every week, so there’s definitely a lot of things I learned in those weeks,” said Clark, who won the 2010 CGA Amateur as a 16-year-old.
For all the scores from the Dominican Republic, CLICK HERE.
Tom Whitney a KFT Runner-Up for First Time: Former Air Force Academy golfer Tom Whitney posted his best finish ever on the Korn Ferry Tour — a tie for second — on Sunday in the Club Car Championship in Savannah, Ga.
Whitney birdied the first three holes of the day and made seven overall on Sunday en route to a 16-under-par total, which left him one stroke behind winner David Skinns.
In five KFT starts this year, Whitney has a second- and a third-place showing to his credit.
For all the scores from Savannah, CLICK HERE.
About the Author: Gary Baines owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com