The 73rd Hole: Wyndham Clark to LIV Golf?, Carl Yuan's drop, Rory-Fleetwood drama

Welcome back to The 73rd Hole. It was a wild weekend in golf, both on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. So, naturally, LIV Golf is now inserting itself into the conversation with perhaps its next big signing. And we're here to unpack it all, from the Sony Open to Dubai and more.

LIV Golf Rumors: US Open champion Wyndham Clark next to move?

There's growing buzz that LIV Golf could add its second 2023 major champion to its roster in two months. After reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm shocked the golf world in December with his move to the Saudi-backed tour, the latest rumors indicate that US Open champion Wyndham Clark could be the next player on the move.

The LIV Golf rumors on X/Twitter can be quite hit or miss, so this should be taken with a grain of salt. However, the break-off tour still has three remaining open roster spots that fans have long been wondering how they would be filled. This would make a lot of sense if they are trying to put together another big name to add, which Clark would qualify after raising his stock with a major win in 2023.

Beyond that, the No. 10-ranked amateur in the world, Caleb Surratt, and Keiran Vincent are also rumored to be joining LIV Golf. The trio of newcomers would "potentially" join Rahm on a new team.

We shall see what materializes here as some reports in early December after Rahm's announcement had Tony Finau already playing for LIV Golf, only for him to recommit to the PGA Tour. However, Clark is now a name to keep an eye on as another mover in the uncertain world of golf right now in this current climate.

Grayson Murray wins the Sony Open, but about Carl Yuan's controversial drop...

Biggest tip of the cap to Grayson Murray, who has battled plenty of personal demons in recent years and emerged with a phenomenal putt in a three-man playoff with Keegan Bradley and Byeong Hun An to get his second career PGA Tour win. You can read all about that from Veronica Bruno.

No offense to Murray's story and win, though, but the big talking point coming out of Sunday at Waialae was young Carl Yuan's drop on the 72nd hole. Still in the hunt on his final hole of the tournament, Yuan ripped his second shot on the par-5 18th hole from the fairway bunker with a pull that was heading toward the grandstands to the left of the green.

We've seen that a million times before, a player hitting into the grandstands, getting TIO relief, taking a drop, and then chipping. But the one key difference here: They never found Yuan's ball, but he still got to take the TIO relief drop.

Why did he get a drop when they couldn't find his ball? It comes down to USGA Local Rule F23d:

"If the player’s ball has not been found but is known or virtually certain to have come to rest in a TIO: The player may take relief under this Local Rule by using the estimated point where the ball last crossed the edge of the TIO on the course as the spot of the ball for purposes of finding the nearest point of complete relief."

That virtual certainty seemed to be in play as video showed that the ball either went into the grandstands or into the hospitality areas behind them, both of which would qualify for TIO.

Having said that, it's hard not to think that this is a bit of a misuse of the TIO rules. There are some people who hate the rules to begin with, but I understand while they're in place. However, I'm not sure the spirit of the rule is to hit a shot off of the planet, not be able to find the ball, and then get a free drop with no penalty incurred.

As golf's landscape changes wildly, you have to wonder if this will be another bit of evidence in potentially changing the TIO rules on the PGA Tour and worldwide.

Rory McIlroy chokes in Dubai, Tommy Fleetwood takes advantage

Rory McIlroy has yet to tee it up on the PGA Tour in 2024 yet, but he made his golf debut at the Dubai Invitational, a 60-player event on the DP World Tour this past week. And as McIlroy often does with his prodigious talent, he was in contention on Sunday.

He entered the final round in the final group with Tommy Fleetwood, who held a one-stroke lead over Rory. But after a surge on the back-nine, the pair went to the 72nd hole of the tournament with McIlroy holding a one-stroke lead. That's when McIlroy, for lack of a better term, choked it away, putting his tee shot on the 18th hole into the water, which set the stage for him to make bogey.

Fleetwood still had to capitalize on that opportunity at hand, however. After a nice approach, he did just that, sinking the birdie putt for a two-stroke swing on the final hole of the tournament and capturing the victory.

It's definitely a choke-job from McIlroy to step up onto the final hole of a tournament and hit that shot with his greatest weapon, the driver. At the same time, though, there is more truth that should be unpacked. He played extremely well and contended in his 2024 debut, the Dubai Invitational isn't going to move the needle for Rory, and there is a lot of golf left to be played this year.

To that last point, the real truth is that Rory McIlroy's career measured in what his Sundays mean only four times per year. So we'll really talk where the Northern Irishman is at come early April in Augusta.

Best Shot I Saw This Week: Ludvig Åberg is a cyborg

It wasn't the best week for young Ludvig Åberg at the Sony Open, a course that should've suited his game. However, that didn't stop us from seeing a moment of brilliance from him. On Friday in the second round after opening up with an even-par round on Thursday, Åberg finished his second round with a flourish, hitting a 222-yard approach from the rough on the par-5 ninth hole, his 18th for the day after starting on No. 10, to within two feet for a tap-in eagle and a 5-under finish for the day.

That'll play everywhere.

Ultimately, it was an uneven week for the young Swede with two even-par rounds on Thursday and Saturday and two nice rounds on Friday and Sunday to finish T30. That's something we've seen from him in his young PGA Tour career already, some inconsitency from round-to-round. But when you see the brilliance he pulls out seemingly once per tournament like this shot, how can you not be high on the kid's future?

You Have to Laugh, Right? Ken Weyand loses by 73 strokes

While Rory and Fleetwood were battling it out on the 18th hole and in the final round at the Dubai Invitational, Ken Weyand was playing a 72 holes for the average golfer. Weyand, the President, GM, and the Director of Golf at Michael Jordan’s Grove XXIII course in Florida, was invited to the event. Not shockingly, he finished dead last... but it's by how much he finished dead last that is truly remarkable.

Over his four days at the tournament, Weyand shot 87-82-82-86, "good" for +53 on the final scorecard. That is a full 72 strokes behind Fleetwood's winning score of 19-under.

Golf fans, analysts and so on will often speculate as to what they or the regular golfer would shoot on a PGA or DP World Tour setup. Weyand's probably the baseline for that as he also finished 39 strokes behind next-to-last in Dubai. And if we're being really honest with ourselves, we probably would be lucky to break 100 from the tips for four straight rounds, much less getting every round in the 80s.