US Open co-leader Wyndham Clark calls late third-round tee times 'a little ridiculous'

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U.S. Open co-leader Wyndham Clark will be teeing it up with the man who's tied with him atop the leaderboard at 10-under, Rickie Fowler, with the chance to win his first golf major Sunday at Los Angeles Country Club (LACC).

He’s likely happy that he won’t be going out too late either.

Clark couldn’t contain his frustration with how late he teed off at LACC during the third round on Saturday as the sun was clearly setting as he was finishing his round, which obviously makes it hard to see the ball and everything else around the course.

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Wyndham Clark plays his shot during the third round of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 17, 2023. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Clark’s round began at 3:40 p.m. PT after the first round of the day went out at 9:33 a.m. PT. 

"It’s a little ridiculous that we teed off that late," Clark said via the New York Post. "I would say right around hole 15 or 16, it started getting to where you couldn’t see that well. I mean, I don’t personally understand why we teed off. We played twilight golf."

While both Clark and Fowler are the co-leaders entering the final round, the former does believe the lack of sunlight led to worse scores down the stretch.

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"The last two holes I 100% think my bogey on 17 was because I couldn’t see, and I think Rickie’s bogey on 18 was because he couldn’t see."

Fowler had a chance to enter Sunday as the solo leader, having just a five-foot putt to end his round. However, he uncharacteristically lipped it out, and he smiled in disbelief before tapping it in for bogey to tie Clark.

Wyndham Clark is shown on the 17th green during the third round of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 17, 2023. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

"I’m not trying to make an excuse, but it definitely was a challenge," Clark said. "[Holes] 17 and 18, my putt on 17, I literally couldn’t see it, and we just played off of feel and how Rickie’s putt came in. And then my putt on 18, same thing. [Clark’s caddie] John was like, ‘Well, it’s kind of around here. Make sure you hit it soft because we need to – we don’t want to blow this by. We need a tap-in coming in."

"So, it’s kind of tough, and it’s crazy to think that we’re doing that on the last two holes of a major when we could have teed off two hours earlier. Hopefully tomorrow we don’t have that issue."

It won’t be an issue for Clark on Sunday as the USGA saw what happened and had the final pairing set for 2:30 p.m. PT, which is more than an hour earlier than the tee time on Saturday.

Wyndham Clark plays his tee shot on the 18th hole during the third round of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 17, 2023. (David Cannon/Getty Images)

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However, a playoff is always in the cards when there’s a close running to see who wins the third of four majors this year. Behind Clark and Fowler is Rory McIlroy, a previous U.S. Open winner, at 9-under; Scottie Scheffler and Harris English are at 7-under and 6-under, respectively.