Why Wyndham Clark was justified with Rory McIlroy complaint: "I was pretty bummed"
Wyndham Clark has explained why he was kind of bummed that Rory McIlroy did not speed up during the opening round of the BMW Championship.
Wyndham Clark admitted he wanted Rory McIlroy to 'speed up' during the first round of the BMW Championship.
But the golfer had a good reason as a thunderstorm was closing in.
Clark and his playing partner McIlroy were coming up the 18th when dark clouds gathered above Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado.
McIlroy had hit his tee shot in the fairway bunker and was forced to chip out and try and save par from 126 yards.
The Northern Irishman left himself a 24-foot putt to salvage a 3-under 69.
As McIlroy lined up his putt, the horn blew to suspend play because of the threat of lightning.
For his part, McIlroy saw the funny side.
"I know," McIlroy was spotted saying as he marked his ball before heading to the clubhouse.
McIlroy and Clark were forced to wait another three hours to finish their opening rounds.
The four-time major champion ultimately missed his putt and signed for a 2-under 70 whereas Clark settled for a 72.
"I knew it was close," Clark told reporters about the stop in play.
"And I kind of wanted Rory to speed up because I was like, gosh, if we could just play real quick and maybe tell the guy to hold off a little bit.
"But yeah, I was pretty bummed.
"I was hoping it was going to be one of those quick Colorado 30-minute storms, but there was another one behind it.
"[It was] definitely a bummer being here for three hours."
It was the first time Clark and McIlroy had come toe-to-toe since the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy.
Clark raised a few eyebrows before the contest when he claimed that on his day he thinks he's the better player.
The American later claimed what he said was taken out of context.
Clark and McIlroy looked as though they enjoyed each other's company.
So much so, they played a ball rolling game.
"My caddie John and I always do it," Clark said of the game.
"And then Rory behind us threw it, and then we said, all right, let's all do it, and then we did one down and back."
Clark said they played for $100 makes.
After 18 holes it was Keegan Bradley who vaulted to the top of the leaderboard with a 6-under 66.
Elsewhere, Scottie Scheffler found himself five strokes off the lead.
Scheffler looked as though he tweaked his back earlier in the day but he later told reporters it was nothing to worry about.
