US Open Co-Leader Wyndham Clark Rips Late Tee Times At Major Tournament

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When it comes to professional sports, few things matter as much as television ratings. Leagues make big money from advertising and they want as many eyeballs as possible. Even if it means sacrificing players' comfort. Wyndham Clark, co-leading the US Open with Rickie Fowler, ripped the late starting times for Saturday's third round.

"It’s a little ridiculous we teed off that late," Clark said, according to USA Today. "I would say right around hole 15 or 16 it started getting to where you couldn't see that well. I mean, I don't personally understand why we teed off — we played twilight golf."

Clark and Fowler, the final grouping started their round at 3:40 p.m. local time (Pacific) at Los Angeles Country Club.

Wyndham Clark plays a shot during the third round of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at The Los Angeles Country Club.

Wyndham Clark plays a shot during the third round of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at The Los Angeles Country Club. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

With just 65 players making the US Open cut, there are only 33 twosomes that need to tee off. On Thursday and Friday, the first players of the day went off just before 7:00 a.m. PT.

But on Saturday, the first player -- Ryan Fox -- didn't start until 9:30 a.m. PT.

Why such a late start for the players? Simple: television.

NBC owns the rights to the US Open and they want the leaders teeing off as late as possible in order to get "primetime" viewing. Still, it seems odd that they needed to start THAT late. Round 3 didn't end until nearly 11:00 p.m. ET.

Wyndham Clark commented on the fact that the quality of golf at a major tournament is being sacrificed.

"It's crazy to think that we're on the last two holes of a major when we could have teed off two hours earlier," he said. "Hopefully tomorrow we don't have that issue."

Indeed, Sunday's final round does begin one hour earlier. Fowler and Clark are again the final duo teeing off and they begin at 2:30 p.m. PT (5:30 p.m. ET).

That shouldn't pose as much difficulty as Saturday. But, again, the only reason for the earlier start for the final round is because Sunday television audiences typically look for earlier end times than Saturday audience.

It all comes back to the all-mighty television.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to Outkick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named “Brady” because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.