Denver native Wyndham Clark matches his best Masters round and vaults into contention at Augusta National
By Gary Baines – 4/10/2026
On Friday, Wyndham Clark went where he’s never gone before at the Masters.
Admittedly, the Denver native doesn’t have a long history competing at Augusta National. Specifically, Friday marked his eighth official round at the Masters.
But never before — prior to Friday — had the Colorado Golf Hall of Famer reached 4 under par overall at the Masters. And given that Augusta National is anything but a pushover, that worked wonders regarding putting Clark into contention.
The Valor Christian graduate took advantage of the pristine early-morning conditions — he was in the third group to tee off , at 8:02 a.m. ET (6:02 MT) — to move into third place by the time he finished in the early afternoon in Georgia.
And with a five-birdie, one-bogey round of 68, the 32-year-old would end up at 4 under par for 36 holes — very much in the hunt going into the weekend. And considering he missed the cut at the Masters in his debut in 2024 and finished 46th last year, that was a welcome change of pace.
“I’m hoping this is the start of a great run of Wyndham Clark golf I know I can play,” Clark said on Friday afternoon.
Wyndham Clark made five birdies in his round of 68 on Friday.
Clark put together a very solid ball-striking round, along with some good work around the greens, which led to four birdies from 8 feet or less (to go along with a 22-footer at No. 3). And he overcame two three putts — both coming on par-5s where he ended up with pars.
Clark, who started the day at even par, ran off three straight birdies — on 2, 3 and 4 — en route to a 3-under front nine. And it could have been even better as he lipped out a birdie try on 6, three-putted 8 and missed a 10-foot birdie attempt on 9.
His lone bogey of the day came at No. 10, where he went into the right greenside bunker and couldn’t convert on a 12-foot par putt. Then Clark went back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16. On the par-5 15th, his second shot just trickled over the green, and he pitched down to 3 feet and drained the putt. On the par-3 16th, he hit it 6 feet behind the cup and converted again.
And after getting up and down for pars on 17 and 18, Clark matched his low score at the Masters. (He also shot 68 in round 2 last year.)
“Between probably the U.S. Open and the Masters, you’ve got to be really smart,” he said. “You’ve got to be really patient. You’re going to make bogeys; just try to eliminate the doubles. And also here especially you can make birdies, too. If you just hang in there, you never know when your streak will come.”
Clark hopes that’s true of his golf form in general. After winning three times on the PGA Tour from May 2023 to early February 2024 and once being ranked No. 3 in the world, he’s posted just two top-10 finishes in official Tour events since September 2024. Ironically, one of those came in the last major championship as he placed fourth in the British Open last July. He came into this Masters after missing two straight cuts.
“I’ve actually played good golf this year,” he said. There have been “a lot of positives in ball-striking, a lot of good short-game shots. I haven’t quite got the putts in the hole and just haven’t put four days together.
“It’s unfortunate to see where I’m at on the FedEx (Cup standings, 102nd) and World Rankings (78th), but I played better golf than that. Hopefully it’s starting to show. … This is my best start thus far at Augusta and I’m just really excited to be in this position. …
“Obviously last year has kind of been tough golf for me, but I think it’s really helped me mentally to be patient and understand that golf, there is so many ebbs and flows. Right now I feel like I’m in a great place mentally. Calm, relaxed. So when I tee it up, I feel comfortable and just go play golf.”
Regarding better ball-striking, Clark credits Pat Coyner, the PGA director of instruction at Cherry Hills Country Club, where Clark grew up and is now an honorary member.
“Pat has helped me a ton,” Clark said. “Swing-wise I was getting really long and too much lag coming into the golf ball. It was really hard to time it. We’ve gotten a little bit shorter, wider, and that’s made me consistent off the tee and a lot more control into the greens.”
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Colorado Golf Journal 