Wyndham Clark’s reaction to his brutal lip out on the 72nd hole of the 2024 Players Championship was the same as all of us who were watching at home: “I don’t know how that putt doesn’t go in.”
Scottie Scheffler was in the clubhouse lead at 20 under when Clark, in the final group with Xander Schauffele, had a birdie putt on the par-4 18th at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, to tie the world No. 1 and force a playoff. Clark’s 16-footer for birdie was tracking towards the hole the entire way but caught the edge, did a 360 and failed to drop, leaving him T-2 at 19 under alongside Schauffele and Brian Harman.
“It was kind of right center with like a foot to go, and I knew it was going to keep breaking, but it had speed and I thought it was going to go inside left, and even when it kind of lipped, I thought it would lip in,” Clark explained. “I’m pretty gutted it didn’t go in.”
“I hit it perfect,” he said of his putt. “It rolled end over end and had the speed to go in.”
Unreal. pic.twitter.com/HU5GEd7o6g
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2024
The runners-up trio each took home $1,981,667 for their efforts, which isn’t a bad consolation prize.
But what if the putt would’ve dropped for Clark? The 2023 U.S. Open champion would’ve then been in a playoff with Scheffler, who took home a whopping $4.5 million for his win. Had Clark bested Scheffler in the three-hole aggregate playoff over Nos. 16-18 at TPC Sawgrass, that $4.5 million would be his. If he would’ve lost, Clark would’ve earned $2.725 million. At best he only lost $743,333. At worst, he’s out $2,518,333.