Wyndham Clark defends actions after lie controversy at BMW

ATLANTA – Wyndham Clark won the BMW Championship in dramatic fashion on Sunday but not without coming under scrutiny by both fans and announcers.

It had to do with his second shot at the par-4 14th hole at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri, where his tee shot flew into the right rough. Clark approached his ball and proceeded to take more than seven practice swings and changed clubs twice. 

Fellow analyst Frank Nobilo jumped in: “So the lie might be better.”

“He’s taking a long look at this. This is like the third club he’s placed down behind the ball there,” CBS’s lead analyst Trevor Immelman said.

Clark proceeded to rescue himself from a sticky situation, finding the putting surface from 173 yards and leaving himself a 24-foot putt. He made par and, thanks to a birdie binge on the last three holes, he claimed his third win of the season. But social media erupted with claims that the U.S. Open champ had improved his lie and should be penalized. 

"It's tricky," said Andy Johnson on The Shotgun Start podcast. "I think part of the issue is here is that the rule is not written well. And then part of the other issue is that the Tour has no spine...Because they would hate to have controversy with one of their players. He added: "At some point the Tour needs to start administering the Rules of Golf."

Clark also drew similar charges that he had improved his lie en route to winning the U.S. Open in June. On the ninth hole at Shinnecock Hills, video footage showed him taking practice swings and positioning his club and feet near his ball in thick fescue. Neither time was Clark penalized unlike Bryson DeChambeau, who was docked two strokes at the British Open for improving his intended swing area.

On Tuesday, Clark was asked to account for his actions.

“I think any player, when they're trying to judge a lie, takes out different clubs to see what it feels like,” he said. “I never fully put the club down behind it. I don't think anything of it. When the cameras are on you, they're going to find anything. And I think you saw that in Bryson's case. It happened to me at the U.S. Open, it happened to me at Bay Hill. It's happened to a lot of guys where they can see stuff that maybe looks like something that maybe it's not.

“That lie was never bad. It was more just judging what it was. By no means did I take a bad lie and make it really good. People can think what they want. I know I didn't do anything that was costing the integrity of the field. That's all I've got to say about that.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Wyndham Clark defends actions after lie controversy at BMW