Clark breaks course record to take Pro-Am lead. Fans barred Sunday if weather allows for play.

Wyndham Clark accomplished what no other golfer had ever achieved at Pebble Beach Golf Links and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Saturday, Feb. 3.

The 30-year-old from Denver fired a 12-under 60 to break both the event and course record, claiming top spot on the leaderboard along the way. Clark began the day on the very fringe of contention, six strokes back in a tie for 23rd. But on Saturday he could do little wrong, charging through the field so quickly that he drew even with the leaders by his seventh hole.

“I think in the past I would have kind of coasted in and shot a nice 8-, 9-under,” Clark observes. “To keep the pedal down and to stay aggressive mentally was the most impressive thing to myself–and then obviously making all those putts.”

Throughout the round, Clark drained difficult putter shots. He eagled the second hole and birdied the fourth, followed by another eagle on 6. Clark then made a mockery of one of the more challenging stretches of the iconic course, recording birdies on 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. 

Yet his best moment of the day may have been on his worst hole. Clark’s ball burrowed into the sand on 12 and his attempt to blast out landed in the rough on the edge of another sand trap.

Unable to gain secure footing righthanded, Clark tapped an awkward lefty shot for bogey—the only blemish on his scorecard.

“I started feeling the nerves kind of on 10,” he admits. “Then making that bogey on 12—making that putt was huge.”

Clark narrowly missed a birdie putt on 16, but was flirting with an almost unheard of 59 for the round, scoring 1-under on 13 and 14. His attempt at an eagle—and a 59—on 18 rolled to a stop just short of the pin.

“Once I hit the fairway on 18, I knew I was going to have a chance to hopefully try to shoot that special number. I gave it my best shot,” he says. “Anytime you shoot 12-under anywhere you've got to be happy.”

Conditions favored low scores on Saturday. Soft greens and a lack of appreciable wind allowed players to locate approach shots on the green. Only six golfers in the field of 80 played rounds above par.

Yes, there were others on course. At the start of the day, Thomas Detry, Ludvig Aberg and Scottie Scheffler shared the lead at 11-under. Aberg fared the best of these, carding a 6-under 66 to finish the day in second, a stroke down at 16-under.

“Didn't quite catch Wyndham coming down the last couple holes, but felt like overall it was a good day,” he says. “I was playing pretty well and gave it a shot.”

Matthieu Pavon ended the round in third. He was hurt by two bogeys on the front nine. But he also notched five birdies, plus three more after the turn to card a 6-under 66 for 15-under after three rounds.

Detry and Mark Hubbard sit three strokes back in a tie for fourth. Scheffler, Jason Day, Tom Hoge and Justin Thomas are 13-under in a tie for sixth.

Patrick Cantlay and Emiliano Grillo, who had been in the hunt, suffered comparatively poor 1-under rounds to fall into a tie for 11th and 14th, respectively.

Light rain began falling late in the day, a precursor for heavier weather to come. PGA Tour officials plan to make a decision Sunday morning, Feb. 4, whether to postpone the final round. With steady winds in the 30mph range and gusts up to 60mph forecast, fans will not be allowed on the grounds even if play continues Sunday.

Should the final round take place on Monday, Feb. 5, fans would be welcome.