The Arnold Palmer Invitational is headed for its final round on Sunday at Bay Hills. Golf analyst Brandel Chamblee raised his concerns regarding Wyndham Clark not being levied a penalty. At the 18th hole, the reigning US Open champion, who was sharing a three-way lead with Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry, shot the ball onto the rough. There he was caught dabbing his club behind the ball on the camera. Although it seemed like the ball moved slightly, he was not handed a penalty.
While speaking on the Golf Central show on Saturday night, Chamblee “respectfully” rejected rules officials’ decision to not penalize Clark. He said,
“I would respectfully disagree with the rules officials. I would respectfully disagree with Wyndham Clark. The ball clearly moved. He clearly didn’t ground the club lightly.” Chamblee, who was convinced of the mistake, added, “I don’t need video to see this; I saw it live and I knew the ball moved. I think he should have been penalized.”
Did Wyndham Clark’s ball “move” here?
I’m not even sure of anything anymore.
“He needed to be a bit more careful.” – Luke Donald pic.twitter.com/OgGYE6AxEF
— Jack Hirsh (@JR_HIRSHey) March 9, 2024
After the end of the third round, Wyndham Clark finished with a score of 8 under in the solo third rank on the leaderboard. He is paired alongside Will Zalatoris and is scheduled to start their final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at 1:25 pm ET.
Wyndham Clark Defends Himself On Not Being Penalized At Arnold Palmer Invitational
After finishing his third-round play at Bay Hills, the reigning US Open champion spoke in an interview. He defended himself by saying that he was just putting down his club.
“I wasn’t trying to do anything… cheating or anything like that or trying to improve my lie. I just simply put my club down,” Clark said.
Clarks answer in full: pic.twitter.com/qenjMvG9Jq
— Espen Blaker (@espenblaker) March 10, 2024
Wyndham Clark further said that it was the “zoom in” that made it look that worse. He said that even Scottie Scheffler and the rules official had a similar view to his.
“Obviously, they zoom in, and it makes it look worse. We all talked about it. Scottie and the rules official didn’t think it moved. So, fortunately that (a penalty) didn’t happen.” Clark added.
The reigning US Open champion is just a stroke behind the joint leaders Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry before the final round of Arnold Palmer Invitational. If he manages to surpass the joint leaders, it will be the second win for Wyndham Clark in the 2024 season and fourth on the PGA Tour.
