The Punter's De-Brief: Clark in a class of his own

• Wyndham wins the Wells in style

• Meronk edges out Langasque in Rome

• Read my Soudal Open preview here

• Read my Byron Nelson Championship preview here

---

Some weeks we witness all sorts of drama on a Sunday on both the DP World and the PGA Tours but last week wasn't one of them. Although we still saw players trade at odds-on and get beat on each Tour.

Heading into the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour, Wyndham Clark led Xander Schauffele by two strokes and there was a gap of three to the remainder. It looked highly likely that the two would fight out the finish and that's exactly what transpired.

Looking for his first win on the PGA Tour, pre-event 100.099/1 chance, Clark, who was matched at a massive 300.0299/1 when the market first opened, made a nervy start to round four, bogeying the opening hole and scrambling a par at the second, having missed both the fairway off the tee and the green on approach.

The far more experienced Schauffele, who'd began the event trading at 22.021/1, drew alongside Clark with a birdie at the third and he was matched at a low of 1.434/9 when he hit the front with another at the seventh but that was as good as it got for the world number five who yet again, didn't impress in-contention.

Clark responded with a birdie at the eighth and he was back in front after Schauffele three-putted the ninth to record a bogey five.

The lead was increased to two when Clark birdied the par five 10th, three when Schauffele made another bogey at 11, and the game was all but up for Schauffele when Clark made another birdie at the 12th.

After his opening drop, Clark bookended the round with another bogey at the 18th but he still won by four to become the eighth first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season and the sixth man to win his first title at the Wells Fargo Championship.

It was an extremely impressive victory, and it will be interesting to see what price he is to win the US PGA Championship in two weeks' time given Justin Ray's tweet below.

Wyndham Clark, who won by 4, led the field in:
- SG tee-to-green
- Greens in regulation
- SG approach

Previous 2 players to win on the PGA Tour by 4+ shots leading in those 3 stats were Francesco Molinari in 2018 and Dustin Johnson in 2020. They both won majors later that year.

? Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) May 7, 2023

It's always tough to back up a super low round so his three-under-par 68 under so much pressure after Saturday' sensational 63 was a fabulous round and he's only the second man to be leading or co-leading at halfway and go on to win here since the Wells Fargo Championship was first staged in 2003.

The only other man to achieve the feat is Tiger Woods and 27 others have failed.

Meronk pleases Donald in Rome

Earlier in the day, the Italian Open had played out in a similar fashion, with two men dominating the final round from very early on.

Pre-event 370.0369/1 chance, Julien Guerrier, had begun the final round with a one-stroke lead over Matt Cooper's 22/1 each-way fancy, Adrian Meronk, and the pre-event 75.074/1 shot, Romain Langasque, but Guerrier kicked off round four with a pair of bogeys and Meronk and Langasque dominated after that.

Langasque hit a low of 1.538/15 when he looked like he might take a two-stroke lead after the turn but moments after Meronk had bogeyed the par three 13th, the Frenchman missed his birdie attempt from ten feet at 12 that would have seen him go two clear and the tide turned in favour of the Pole again after that when Langasque bogeyed both the 13th and the 14th.

Meronk led by a stroke playing the 17th but it looked highly likely that the pair would be tied again after a wild tee-shot, but he saved himself brilliantly with the putter.

Huge putt to save par on 17 for @AdrianMeronk #DS80OpendItalia pic.twitter.com/oddTskBqkS

? DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 7, 2023

The gap was back to two when Langasque bogeyed the 16th but to his credit he birdied the last two holes, although it wasn't enough.

Meronk had followed the brilliant par save on 17 with a birdie four at the par five 18th so the Pole went on to win by a stroke, and it probably cements his place in Luke Donald's Ryder Cup team.

Superb win for @AdrianMeronk. Some solid golf played all week and came up with the right shots when he needed them most, starting to make winning a habit. Well done Adrian

? Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) May 7, 2023

Riviera link remains strong

Form at Riviera has been a strong pointer for the Wells Fargo Championship and the link between the two tracks remains strong.

Clark has form figures at Riviera reading 17-8-33 which isn't spectacular, but he sat second after rounds one and two on debut in 2020 and with the benefit of hindsight, the clues were certainly there.

A brilliant scrambler, Clark came into the event in form with recent figures reading 5-6-29-3-24 and his 24th in Mexico in his penultimate start was a decent finish given he'd sat 114th after an opening 74 on Thursday.

Rahm and Scheffler still dominate PGA market

Schauffele had shortened up to 24.023/1 to win the US PGA Championship but after his unconvincing performance on Sunday he's drifted back out to 28.027/1 and Clark is yet to be installed in the market.

Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler are vying for favouritism at the year's second major but I can see Scheffler shortening up if he contends again at the Byron Nelson Championship.

The DP World Tour takes in the Soudal Open in Belgium this week, which I've previewed here, and one week ahead of the US PGA Championship, the PGA Tour pitches up in Texas for the Byron Nelson Championship, which I've previewed here.

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter