Wyndham Clark unintentionally ignited golf’s social-media sphere when he took a drop from a pitch mark in the third fairway Friday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Clark’s tee shot hit the fairway, took a bounce and settled in a dirt area. It was impossible to tell with the naked eye while watching TV whether that resting place was created by Clark’s tee shot or by someone else.
Clark, however, was confident that it was his original pitch mark and he took relief. He went on to par the hole.
With social-media accusations flying, the PGA Tour released a statement saying, “After reviewing ShotLink video of Wyndham Clark’s tee shot on the third hole during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, the PGA Tour Rules Committee determined that the ball returned to its own pitch mark, which entitled Clark to free relief.”
Clark gets relief as ball lands in own pitch mark
Watch the moment where Wyndham Clark got relief at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after cameras determined his third tee shot landed in his own pitch mark.
During Golf Channel’s coverage, as Clark was wrapping his round, in-booth rules official Mark Dusbabek further explained the situation, saying the Tour captured the incident with one of its 146 on-course cameras. A hi-res video showed Clark’s ball hit, bounce forward and then spin back into its original pitch mark.
“Yeah, didn’t know there was any confusion obviously when I’m playing,” Clark said after his round. “When we hit it, I was asking for it to stop. We never saw it bounce. Then we get up there and it’s in a plugged lie. It was filled with — my ball was covered with mud. So we took relief, didn’t think anything of it.”
Clark was a co-leader in Round 2 before making double bogey at the 15th hole. He finished with a 1-under 71 to sit two back of leader Shane Lowry.
