ATLANTA — Coming off his victory this past Sunday, Wyndham Clark is one of the favorites to contend this week at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.
That doesn’t mean Clark will get overtly favorable support from spectators. It just hasn’t been the narrative for the two-time U.S. Open champion and now six-time winner on the PGA Tour, including three events this year.
“I’m enjoying how the year is going,” Clark, 32, said when asked about a “me-against-the-world vibe” at his pre-tournament press conference Tuesday. “You know what’s funny is I’ve now had six wins, and I think in all six of those wins I was never the crowd favorite. I always heard other people’s cheers. Maybe one day I’ll be who everyone is rooting for.
“At the end of the day, I’m having fun with what I’m doing. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Clark got a better reception, and perhaps picked up more fans, last week at the BMW Championship in St. Louis. He shared the tournament lead after the opening round, was one shot ahead after the second round, increased his advantage to five strokes going into Sunday and lost it early on the back nine at Bellerive Country Club.
However, his even-par 70 put him at 17-under 263 for a three-stroke victory over Patrick Cantlay in the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. He rose to No. 3 in the points standings, easily making the 30-player field for the season finale.
Clark acknowledged some high-fives and cheers from fans, but he also heard the support for star Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland. McIlroy, in the final pairing with Clark, tied him for the lead before making bogey at No. 17 while his playing partner made a 13-foot birdie on the hole.
“St. Louis fans were amazing,” Clark said. “Honestly, they were never rooting against me. It’s just I was playing against Rory. It’s Rory.
“I think when someone has a lead like I did, they want to see it get close and exciting, and then it’s Rory. By no means were they mean or anything. When I hit good shots, they cheered for me, and I heard a lot of good things. I just wasn’t maybe the crowd favorite.”
Clark, at No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is no stranger to final-round heroics, having made the cut in 17 of 22 events with six top-five finishes this year. He won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May and the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in June, adding to his 2023 title at Los Angeles Country Club that was his first major.
In between his two U.S. Open championships, Clark missed the 2025 cut at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh. That result was punctuated when he damaged a locker in the locker room, and he was temporarily banned from the club — which put a negative wrinkle to his backstory moving forward.
He later apologized, paid for damages, donated to charity, went to anger management counseling and has shown remorse.
While Clark has earned more than $14 million in official money this season, that doesn’t mean the competition gets easier. In fact, he said it’s harder to play with a sizeable lead than a small one.
“If there’s a one-shot lead, I think it’s a little easier to play your best golf,” Clark said. “When you’re up by five or six shots, it can be difficult because you’re kind of just — your mind is almost wanting to just be on the last three holes knowing you’re going to win the tournament and you want it to be over, versus if you had a one-shot lead or you’re tied or you’re one back, you’re so excited and focused for every opportunity.”
Clark said he needs to learn to be better at playing with large leads, which is not a bad problem to have.
“As far as what happened at the BMW, I just kind of was — I just wasn’t focused,” he said of Sunday’s round. “I was kind of just foggy when I was playing. I think what got me out of it wasn’t anything physical. It was more when Rory tied it up, and then it kind of hit me like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I could lose this.’ Finally making that putt on 16 (a 16 1/2-foot birdie on the par-3 hole), I kind of snapped out of it and I got back to playing the good golf that I know I can play.”
–Field Level Media
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