Wyndham Clark excels at Open, keeps anger in check

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

It's no stretch to say Wyndham Clark had a much more pleasant time at The Open at Royal Portrush this week than the previous major tournament. HT Image
Clark has been unable to put an incident at Oakmont in the rear-view mirror. But three stellar rounds to end The Open, combined with no temper tantrums, was a step in the right direction.
Clark finished in a tie for fourth at 11-under 273, following a shaky first- round 76 with rounds of 66, 66 and 65.
"At the end of the day, I played 16-under on the last three days," Clark said. "Excluding that first round, maybe we'd have a chance to win this thing.
"But really pleased. I putted amazing. I hit a lot of great shots. Felt like I was in a great place. I'm super pleased."
Clark won the 2023 U.S. Open but this year's performance at the U.S. Open at Oakmont was a disaster on two levels.
Clark missed the cut with back-to-back rounds of 74. Then his anger took over and he badly damaged a couple lockers at the famed golf course.
Oakmont has banned Clark from the property and said Clark must pay for all damages, make a charitable contribution and attend "anger management sessions or counseling," before he can be reinstated.
"So, obviously, I feel terrible with what happened," Clark said Sunday. "I'm doing anything I can to try to remedy the situation.
"We're trying to keep it private between Oakmont, myself and the USGA. I'm just happy we have a pathway moving forward, and like you said, I'm hoping we can get past this and move on and hope there's no ill-will towards me and Oakmont."
That incident marked the second straight major tournament in which Clark had a temper issue. He threw his driver and damaged a tee box during the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in May.
Clark said resolving his temper issues is a work-in-progress.
"I've had them in the past. I've been pretty open about my mental shift and change to get better, and I did that in '23 and '24, and then having a tough year and all the expectations and just frustration all coming together, and I did two stupid things," Clark said. "But one thing that it did do is wake me up and get me back into the person I know I am and the person I want to be.
"I hope those things don't reflect because I don't think they reflect on who I am, and going forward that stuff is not going to happen again."
Clark's performance at Royal Portrush was his best of the year. His other three majors went poorly - tie for 46th at the Masters, tie for 50th at the PGA and the missed cut in the U.S. Open.
But he's holding out hope that a strong run could land him a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
"I haven't had a good year, to be honest," Clark said. "I would have loved to make a few more putts to try to get a second place because then maybe I'd have a better chance. ...
"I feel like I'm starting to play really good golf these last four or five weeks. I've played two or three good rounds, I just haven't put four together."
--Field Level Media