Wyndham Clark’s 60 Was A Putting Avalanche At The Byron Nelson
Compiled by Multiple-Award-Winning PGA Professional Brendon R. Elliott, PrimePutt’s Director of Instruction and Lead Writer
There are low rounds, and then there are rounds that feel like the hole keeps getting bigger with every step.
Wyndham Clark’s final-round 60 at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson was the kind of Sunday putting performance that changes the entire temperature of a tournament. He began the day two shots behind Si Woo Kim, with Scottie Scheffler right there as well, and left TPC Craig Ranch with a three-shot victory at 30-under par.
That is a lot of birdies.
It is also a lot of belief.
Clark has always had the power to overwhelm a golf course. At TPC Craig Ranch, the putter became the club that let everything else matter. He did not just roll in a few timely putts. He poured them in. Long ones. Momentum putts. Separation putts. The kind of putts that make a player walk a little taller before the ball even reaches the cup.
The Putt That Changed The Closing Stretch
Clark’s Sunday was full of moments, but the 45-footer on the par-3 15th felt like the one that turned the chase into his tournament.
At that stage, Si Woo Kim had not gone away. Scheffler was still close enough to make the entire place nervous. Clark needed something more than steady golf.
He got it with one roll.
A long birdie putt does more than change a number on the scoreboard. It changes how everyone around you feels. It tells the field that your speed is matched up, your read is right and your stroke is free enough to let something special happen.
That is pressure putting.
It is not forcing the ball into the hole. It is giving a good putt the freedom to become a great one.
Clark’s Putting Week Was Bigger Than One Putt
The 45-footer will make the highlight reel, but Clark’s week on the greens was not built on one accident of greatness.
He rolled in a 23-foot birdie putt on No. 2 to start his Sunday charge. He stacked birdies early. He kept pressure on Kim. He used the eagle at No. 12 to push himself fully into the center of the fight. He drove the green at the short par-4 14th and converted. Then came the long one at 15 and another important birdie at 17.
When a player makes that many putts from outside the comfort zone, the rest of the field feels it.
For everyday golfers, that is one of the best lessons from Clark’s win. You do not need to make every long putt. You do need to control pace well enough that the ball constantly has a chance. Once that happens, confidence starts feeding on itself.
Good speed creates good misses.
Good misses create calm tap-ins.
Calm tap-ins create freedom.
Freedom creates rounds where the hole starts to look huge.
Si Woo Kim Nearly Wrote A Different Putting Story
Before Clark’s Sunday avalanche, Si Woo Kim looked like the player who might own the week.
Kim’s second-round 60 was its own near-historic putting performance. He flirted with 59, built a lead and carried control of the tournament deep into the weekend. He had been one of the players most comfortable on these TPC Craig Ranch greens, and his one-putt percentage at the course in recent years backed that up.
Kim did not lose because he putted poorly.
That is important.
Sometimes in golf, you do almost everything right and someone else simply gets hotter. Kim finished second at 27-under. In most weeks, that wins. At this Byron Nelson, Clark turned Sunday into a putting storm that nobody could quite match.
The lesson from Kim’s week is patience. A great putting week can still require one more gear on Sunday. When another player finds that gear, the answer is not panic. It is sticking to your process and continuing to create chances.
Kim did that.
Clark just made more of them count.
Scottie Scheffler Was Close Enough To Remind Us How Fine The Margin Is
Scottie Scheffler finishing third at 25-under says a lot about how low-scoring TPC Craig Ranch played. It also says something about putting margins at the highest level.
Scheffler did plenty right. He gave himself chances. He stayed in the tournament. He made Clark and Kim deal with the presence of the best player in the world.
But when winning scores reach 30-under, solid putting is rarely enough. You need streaks. You need conversion. You need those mid-range putts that turn good approach shots into birdies before the pressure starts building.
Scheffler’s presence near the top of the board was a reminder that even elite ball-striking still needs the putter to cash the check.
Ball-striking opens the door.
Putting decides who walks through it.
Brooks Koepka’s Early Spark Was Another Putting Subplot
The week also gave us an interesting Brooks Koepka putting storyline.
Koepka opened with a 63 and looked more comfortable on the greens than he has for much of the season. That mattered because putting has been the one part of his game keeping him from matching the quality of his ball-striking.
A hot Thursday did not turn into a victory, but it was still meaningful.
For a player like Koepka, the equation is not complicated. If he putts well, he can contend anywhere. His tee-to-green game is too strong for the putter to be average or worse for long stretches. Even one round of seeing the ball go in can be enough to build toward something bigger.
That is another PrimePutt reminder for golfers at every level:
Confidence on the greens is not found. It is built, one committed stroke at a time.
PrimePutt Practice Challenge: The 60-Watch Ladder
This week’s challenge is inspired by Clark’s Sunday and the way he blended early momentum, mid-range conversion and long-range speed control.
Set up three putting stations:
Station 1: The 5-Foot Starter
Make five putts in a row from 5 feet. The goal is start line, routine and confidence. No rushing. Treat each one like it matters.
Station 2: The 12-Foot Scoring Putt
Hit 10 putts from 12 feet. Track how many you make, but more importantly, track how many finish within 18 inches of the hole. A good 12-footer should be aggressive enough to have a chance without creating unnecessary stress coming back.
Station 3: The 30-To-45-Foot Momentum Putt
Hit 10 long putts from 30 to 45 feet. Your goal is not to make them all. Your goal is to leave every ball inside a 3-foot circle.
Then finish by going back to the 5-foot station.
That final step matters. Tournament putting is not just about hitting a great long putt. It is about being calm enough to clean up the next one.
Year-To-Date Putting Watch
On the PGA TOUR, the latest Strokes Gained: Putting board lists Vince Whaley at +0.915, Jacob Bridgeman at +0.837 and Jake Knapp at +0.744. Bridgeman also remains at the top of the traditional putting average category at 1.692.
On the LPGA Tour, the current putting average leaders are Hyo Joo Kim at 27.96 putts per round, Mi Hyang Lee at 28.00, Gemma Dryburgh at 28.25, Minami Katsu at 28.38 and Minjee Lee at 28.40.
Final Roll
Wyndham Clark’s 60 will be remembered as one of the great final rounds of the season.
But from a putting standpoint, the message was bigger than the score.
Clark showed what happens when speed, freedom and belief all show up at the same time. Si Woo Kim showed that great putting can still run into something even hotter. Scottie Scheffler reminded us that being close is not always enough when the winning score gets that deep.
The lesson is simple.
Putting does not just finish holes.
Putting finishes tournaments.
Pressure Putts drops every Monday with the week’s best putting stories, stats and drills from the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour and DP World Tour. Got a putting question or drill request? Drop us a line.
