Like last year, putting woes and struggles late in the round plague Denver native Wyndham Clark at the Masters; after 76, he’ll need Friday rally to make the cut
By Gary Baines – 4/10/2025
The same issues that bedeviled Denver native Wyndham Clark in his Masters debut last year reared their ugly head in his opening round of the 2025 major championship season on Thursday.
The 2023 U.S. Open winner battled an uncooperative putter, couldn’t take advantage of the par-5s at Augusta National Golf Club despite his prodigious length off the tee, and tailed off after a solid start. The result was a 4-over-par 76 in round 1 that left him in 73rd place heading into Friday, 11 strokes behind leader Justin Rose.
Clark didn’t make a putt longer than 9 feet — he sank two from that distance — and missed four tries of 10 feet or less (4, 7, 9 and 10 feet, to be precise). Overall, he finished with 32 putts, which ranked him 63rd in the field on Thursday. And he was a cumulative even par on the four par-5s, which cost him more than half a stroke relative to the field, something particularly problematic considering the Colorado Golf Hall of Famer is one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour.
These were the same issues that led to a missed cut last year in Clark’s first time competing at the Masters. In 2024, he didn’t make a putt longer than 11 feet in 36 holes and went 2 over par total on the par-5s.
On Thursday, Clark was 1 under par through eight holes and hit a 341-yard drive in the fairway on 9. But he took five shots to get down from 114 yards as his approach spun back off the front of the green and he chipped on and three-putted for a double bogey.
The led to a reversal of fortunes as he played his final 10 holes in 5 over par.
That’s similar to what happened last year to Clark at the Masters. After playing his first 10 holes of the tournament in 3 under, he went 10 over for his last 26 holes. On day 2, he was 1 under for the day through five holes, but he recorded seven bogeys and no birdies the rest of the way.
Clark will need to make up some ground on Friday to survive the cut, with the top 50 and ties advancing to the weekend. He’s scheduled to tee off for round 2 at 8:26 am (MT).
Notable: Nick Dunlap, who won the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club, struggled on Thursday like few players have at the Masters. The two-time PGA Tour winner shot an 18-over-par 90, making the 21-year-old the first player under age 38 to not break 90 at the Masters, according to the Associated Press. Dunlap posted a triple bogey, four doubles and seven bogeys in a birdie-free day. … Another champion of a big event in Colorado, 2024 BMW Championship winner Keegan Bradley, opened with a 2-over-par 74 and shares 51st place.
For all the results from the Masters, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com