Wyndham Clark Is Still Riding the Wave After U.S. Open Victory

Clark is five-under through two rounds in Scotland, and could be a big factor both this weekend and at next week's British Open.

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland - What a difference a year makes.

For Wyndham Clark it’s been whirlwind of settling in as a major champion after his victory last month at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

For the 29-year-old, the one-shot victory over Rory McIlroy ticked off a goal he set at the beginning of the 2023 season: to win.

Not specifically a major, but to win. He’s won twice, the first at the Wells Fargo Championship and then just over a month later, the U.S. Open.

Last year at the Scottish Open, Clark was more the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed golf professional, making the cut with two rounds over-par and the finishing T16 with a final-round 3-under 67.

Clark would play in five other events in the 2022 season, making the cut all five times, but recording one top 10 at the Rocket Mortgage, a T8.

That was Clark's fourth full season on the PGA Tour, and with only one runner-up finish, a playoff loss at the 2020 Bermuda Championship, he was struggling to accomplish his goal set at the beginning of each year: to win.

Laudable but difficult, Clark, like every player who tees it up, knows how tough it is each week to land on top of the leaderboard.

His win at Wells Fargo came after a run of solid golf, a fifth at Valspar Championship, sixth at Corales Puntacana and a third at the Zurich Classic.

From Valspar to Wells Fargo, which is a little over a month, Clark moved up in the world rankings from 90th to 31st and now sits at 11th after Travelers Championship, the week after his first major victory. He's also sixth in the Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings.

“The week after at Travelers, they did it and that actually caught me off guard,” Clark said of being announced on the first tee. “I knew it was coming, but it definitely was something that you don't expect but then when it does happen, it’s amazing.”

Clark admitted he was getting more comfortable with the lofty perch he now sits upon.

The win in California was a clearly a validator for Colorado native. He's now at his second tournament since the major victory, and he continues to play solid golf.

Starting with the opening round of the U.S. Open, Clark has played 10 rounds at even par or better and has a scoring average of 67.3. He's 5-under after two rounds in Scotland.

“I'd say if anything changed since winning, it's more just more belief in myself that I can do it,” Clark said. “Belief that I can continue to win at the highest level.”

So, with a weather forecast that includes continuous rain all evening on Friday and Saturday morning, Clark will see a wet and benign golf course with little wind. Sunday should be different, with wind gusts forecast at more than 40 mph.

It will test his resolve, but will also be a good warm-up to next week's British Open at Hoylake.

“I was kind of using this week as prep for next week,” Clark confirmed. “Kind of a great warm-up because it's kind of like a links golf course. And you get the elements, but I'm focused right now on this week. And when we get to next week, we'll get focused on that one.”