Clark’s historic round at the famous links course in California included two eagles and nine birdies, giving him a one-shot lead ahead of Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg.
The US Open champion raced to a score of 10-under-par after 11 holes on Saturday and just missed out on shooting 59 or lower when a couple of late putts fell agonisingly short. It would have been the 13th sub-60 round in the history of the PGA Tour.
“In my mind, I think in the past I would have coasted in and shot a nice eight, nine-under,” Clark told reporters after his round. “To keep the pedal down and to stay aggressive mentally I think was the most impressive thing to myself.
“Then obviously making all of those putts out of the ordinary was also pretty awesome.”
The only slight blemish during the 30-year-old’s performance was a bogey on the 12th hole, to which he responded with three birdies across the final six holes.
After shooting 72 and 67 in the first two rounds, Clark surged to the top of the leaderboard with his 17-under total.
The previous tournament course record of 62 for the tournament had been held jointly by Tom Kite, David Duval, Patrick Cantlay, and Matthias Schwab, according to the PGA Tour, while Hurly Long had shot the old competitive course record of 61 at a collegiate event in 2017.
Due to bad weather throughout the week, the PGA Tour announced that “preferred lies” would be used across the first three rounds of the tournament, allowing golfers to lift, clean, and place their balls in short grass areas. The Tour, however, still refers to Clark’s round as a record.
Åberg dropped off the top of the leaderboard but is only one shot behind Clark going into the final day after a third-round 67.
France’s Matthieu Pavon, who won last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, is a further shot back in third, while USA’s Mark Hubbard and Belgium’s Thomas Detry are tied for fourth.
