U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark was involved in a rules issue on Saturday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational that had Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee criticizing PGA Tour rules officials for not assessing a penalty.
Clark, who won the U.S. Open last summer at Los Angeles Country Club and captured the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month, trails third-round leaders Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry by a stroke—which would have been two shots if a penalty had been assessed.
When setting up to play his second shot from heavy rough on the Bay Hill Club’s 18th hole, Clark was seen pressing his club down forcefully behind the ball, causing it to possibly move. The question is whether that could be viewed by the naked eye.
Television replays suggested the ball moved but Clark was not penalized after it was reviewed by rules officials in the scoring area after the round.
Did Wyndham Clark just improve his lie on the 18th? Sketchy activity from the co leader pic.twitter.com/8swqFLiOpb
— Brett Hoffman (@BrettHoffmanjr) March 9, 2024
Chamblee, in his role as an analyst on Golf Channel, felt the ball moved and used replay to show how the ball was in a different spot.
“I would respectfully disagree with the rules officials,’’ Chamblee said. “I would respectfully disagree with Wyndham Clark. The ball clearly moved. He certainly didn’t ground the club lightly… 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.’’
Clark, asked about the incident following the round, said: “I’m not cheating or anything like that or trying to improve my lie. Obviously, they zoom it and it makes it look worse. We all talked about it. Scottie, the rules official don’t think it moved. So fortunately [a penalty] didn’t happen.’’
NBC-TV’s Dan Hicks questioned the situation during the broadcast and brought in rules analyst Mark Dusbabek to explain.
“For a ball to move, based on the definition, it has to go to a different spot,” Dusbabek said. “It can move, but as long as it comes back to its original spot, it technically hasn’t moved. So, when we watch this tape, it looks like it’s come back to its same spot.”
Dusbabek admitted it didn’t look good for Clark as it pertained to possibly improving his lie.
European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, serving as an analyst on the broadcast, said: “He needed to be a little bit more careful with that club. He was laying up anyway so what was the advantage of trying to improve the lie?”
