His seven under par round puts him one shot in front of the chasing duo of compatriots Taylor Moore and Lee Hodges.

Dallas’ Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Tom Kim are each in contention near the top of the leaderboard heading into Friday’s round.

Clark saved par after hitting his tee shot into the water on the par-4 17th hole and shot a bogey-free 7-under 64 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead in the first round.