There have been some surreal moments in Wyndham Clark’s life since the day it changed forever at Los Angeles Country Club.
When Clark tapped in on the 72nd hole to claim the 2023 U.S. Open, it was a crowning achievement for a professional golfer who had been through a lot to become, at least to casual fans, an overnight sensation.
His new reality started to set in just four days later when Clark strode to the first tee at The Travelers’ Championship and the starter announced his arrival to the gallery with, “Our current U.S. Open champion … Wyndham Clark.”
“That’s when you feel like … wow,” Clark said. “But then you really start to feel it as time goes by. You keep playing and people start really recognizing your name. You realize what you did was so amazing and how hard it is to win a major. Not many people are part of that fraternity. I still get goosebumps and it reminds me how cool it was.”
He’ll experience another “wow” moment when he walks up to the first tee Aug. 1 at Le Golf National just outside Paris. In another of a string of forever memories Clark has collected in just the past two seasons, he will represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Golf returned to the Summer Games in 2016. Clark, who is the fifth-ranked male golfer in the world, will try to become the third gold medalist since 1904, joining Great Britain’s Justin Rose and fellow American Xander Schauffele.
Maybe fittingly, Clark’s path to the Olympics wasn’t as straightforward as it appeared: He clinched his spot exactly one year after his most important triumph.
“I was watching the end of the (2024) U.S. Open,” Clark said. “I was in the room with my caddy, my agent, trainer, girlfriend — we were all in there. When the last putt dropped and we knew that no one could jump us, we were all like, ‘Well, that’s pretty sick. We are an Olympian.’ We all kind of cheered and (toasted) a drink.
“It kind of felt like a weight was lifted off me because obviously I really wanted to make the team. I was second for the longest time and it looked like I was going to be in, but then Xander passes me and I’m third. Then Patrick (Cantlay) and Collin (Morikawa) started playing really good golf and there was an opportunity for them to jump me. It was definitely a lot of pressure.”
The top four Americans in the World Golf Ranking qualified for the event, which will feature 60 players from 31 countries. Clark will be joined by Scottie Sheffler (world No. 1), Schauffele (No. 3) and Morikawa (No. 6) from the U.S., along with many of the world’s best, like Rory McIlroy (Ireland), Ludvig Aberg (Sweden), Viktor Hovland (Norway) and Jon Rahm (Spain).
It’s a four-day, 72-hole event, just like a typical PGA tournament. Except for the stakes, and the global reach.
“Last year I had one of the greatest honors of representing our country,” Clark said of playing for the U.S. at the Ryder Cup. “I love this country, and to wear the red, white and blue was such an honor. The Ryder Cup is probably, in golf, the biggest stage for an American to play on. But the Olympics is the biggest for sports, and now that golf is in the Olympics, I think it trumps that.”
Clark spoke about the Olympics at Castle Pines Golf Club while attending an event to promote the BMW Championship, which will be held at the course in August. He had made a similar comparison between the Olympics and the Ryder Cup a few days prior, and it caused a bit of consternation in the golf community.
The Ryder Cup is the most prestigious international event in golf. But Clark was speaking about the wider impact and audience that comes with the Olympics.
His story is well known locally. His path from those first few swings at Family Sports Center to countless rounds at Cherry Hills Country Club to multiple state championships at Valor Christian made him a Colorado golf phenom.
His success at the professional level has progressed quickly. Clark began the 2023 season ranked No. 160 world, and he finished the year 10th after his first win at the Wells Fargo Championship in May, his first major win a month later and a third-place finish at the Tour Championship.
Clark won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and has five more top-10s this season, including back-to-back events leading into the British Open. He missed the cut this weekend at Royal Troon Golf Club.
This level of success did not come easy for Clark. He toiled on the fringes of the PGA Tour for four years before breaking through, unsure at times whether he would qualify for the following season.
That part of his story — from his time in college at Oklahoma State and Oregon, the death of his mother, Lise, from breast cancer, and his struggles as a pro — earned more recognition on an episode of “Full Swing,” Netflix’s behind-the-scenes documentary on PGA Tour life, that aired in March.
Now Clark will perform on the Olympic stage, where his story can reach a new audience. It’s certainly been a whirlwind 14 months since that first win at Quail Hollow Club.
“That’s the beauty of Wyndham personally — certainly he’s gotten a lot busier and the attention has grown, but he himself, I haven’t seen a lot of changes,” said Justen Byler, Valor’s current golf coach and Clark’s basketball coach when he was a student. “That’s a testament to who he is as a young man.
“Knowing that part of his journey makes it even more special. You hear the story told, and it’s, ‘Wow, this has happened so quickly.’ It has happened quickly in terms of his success over the last year and a half and things have changed very, very quickly. But this has certainly been a process for him, both personally and professionally. He has grown immensely, both personally and professionally. It’s been a grind.”
Clark’s back story had already started to gain a little notoriety before he started winning. PGA broadcasts noted on a few occasions that he graduated from Valor with NFL star Christian McCaffrey.
Now he’s going to arrive at the Olympics as a major champion and one of the best golfers in the world. He’s not going to be alone among Valor alums. Anna Hall, a 2019 graduate, is a gold medal contender in the heptathlon.
Byler’s current team will be in the midst of its final preparations for the start of its season Aug. 7, but he hopes to get everyone together to watch Clark compete in France.
“Both as a friend and also as a community at our school, we often talk about playing for something bigger than yourself,” Byler said. “The idea of playing for something bigger than yourself, it doesn’t get any better as an example of that than to be a participant at the Olympics.”
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