AUGUSTA, Georgia – It doesn´t faze Wyndham Clark that no player has won in his Masters debut since Fuzzy Zoeller 45 years ago.
“Stats like that are meant to be broken,” Clark said according to AP.
Of course, Clark is not your ordinary Masters newcomer. He has the rare distinction of playing in his first Masters as the US Open champion, not to mention being one of the hottest players on the PGA Tour.
Clark followed up two PGA Tour victories last year by winning at Pebble Beach in February and finishing second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Pro-Am and The Players Championship, where he finished one shot behind world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a three-way tie.
Ranked fourth in the world, Clark enters this tournament with a 40-1 shot to win, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
While Clark acknowledged that winning as a Masters rookie would be a tall task, he’s quick to add that few could have predicted he would win the US Open last summer. “So I like my chances,” he said.
Clark isn’t the only notable newcomer playing at Augusta National.
Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, ranked No. 9 in the world, is a popular pick despite never testing the slippery greens at Augusta National. He won a PGA Tour event as a rookie and had two wins in foursomes at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, helping the Europeans dominate.
And don’t forget about Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap, who stunned the golf world in January by becoming the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event in 33 years when he captured The American Express.
He’s since turned pro and is ready to cash in at the Masters.
If you’re looking for a sleeper, there’s also Dean Shipley, who received an automatic invitation to the Masters by finishing runner-up in the 2023 US Amateur, where he lost to Dunlap 4 and 3.
“It´s a tricky balance because obviously I´m feeling all the first-time feelings that everyone´s feeling, but I´m also trying to be OK with all those things coming at me,” Aberg said of his Masters debut.
“I guess all I´m trying to do is just embrace all the nerves and all the excitement that I feel, and at the same time know my capabilities and know that that´s probably going to be good enough to compete.”
