Olympics Golf: Wyndham Clark earns apology after solid finish

“Garbage,” “Trash,” “Overrated,” “He stinks” and “Should’ve been Bryson DeChambeau” are just some of the tirades Wyndham Clark received online after Thursday’s opening round of the Olympics, a 4-over 75 that saw him in the water early and often.

After his brutal start in Paris, he could have given up. After all, only the top three finishers get a prize. But Clark fought back, shooting 15-under-par over the final 54 holes to tie for 14th, a far cry from where he was on Thursday, near last. Clark also shot two straight 6-under 65s over the weekend.

Only gold-medallist Scottie Scheffler matched that mark of 15 under par over the final three rounds. If the first round hadn’t been so shaky, Clark could still have been in contention for a medal.

“I just started off bad and missed a couple of putts. And then it seemed like nothing went right the first day,” Clark said after Sunday’s final round.

“And I played really well the second day, unfortunately I ended up with a double. But the last two days were really good, yeah. Yeah, I played really good golf. The first nine holes were terrible (on Thursday), and one bad 18th hole (on Friday), and then it can all be a bit different.”

Clark earned the respect and admiration of many for his strong finish, and the golf fans who lambasted him after Thursday’s round owe him an apology. But the 2023 U.S. Open winner paid no attention to the missiles sent his way.

“I didn’t hear any of that, but I did know some other things. I think some of it wasn’t quite right, because you know, I was the third-highest ranked player for the U.S. coming here. Yeah, bad start,” Clark said.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

“This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I may never get the chance to watch events, spend time in the (Olympic) Village and get the full experience again. So I wanted to make sure I did everything right. I have no regrets. When I got there on Tuesday, I set everything up and was ready to go. I played really good golf for 60 holes. I just had nine bad holes.”

Despite the difficult nature of the competition, Clark still had a great week, finishing as the third-highest ranked American player at 11-under-par for the championship, one stroke behind Xander Schauffele, who was tied for the lead after 54 holes.

“It’s really hard to come first, second or third in a tournament, and when those are the only three places that actually win something, I think it changes your expectations a little bit. Because in golf, it’s really hard to time everything perfectly every week, and especially during one week,” Clark said.

“I wanted to enjoy every minute of it and I feel like I did. So yeah, it was a great week for me.”

It’s no secret that Clark has had his fair share of struggles in 2024, despite currently sitting fifth in the FedEx Cup standings. He missed the cut at Augusta National, Valhalla and Royal Troon. He finished tied for 56th at Pinehurst No. 2 as the reigning U.S. Open champion, looking a shadow of his former self at Los Angeles Country Club the year before. Still, Clark has had glimpses of success this year, most notably at Pebble Beach, where he shot a closing-round 60 to win the rain-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He’s also had five top-10s since that February victory, including two runner-up finishes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.

But Clark injured himself in the gym in late March ahead of the Texas Children’s Houston Open, and the injury has lingered ever since. That’s undoubtedly contributed to his inconsistency in recent months, but Clark is still a deserving member of Team USA.

When qualifying wrapped up after the US Open, Clark was the world’s No. 5 player and the No. 3 American. He may not have looked the part in the majors, but he still enjoyed an impressive 18-month run, winning elite tournaments at Quail Hollow, LACC and Pebble Beach.

A major reason he was successful in those events – and a few others – is that he got off to a strong start.

“I’ve actually struggled a lot with my starts, and it’s been tough to overcome that, especially in the majors. I started off so bad, and then when I got to the back nine on Friday and started playing really good golf, I was missing the cut by a hair, and some of the cuts I did make I was backdooring into the top 10,” Clark explained.

“So starting badly, that’s something I really need to work on; at least getting off to a solid start. I feel like I can play well on the weekend.”

That perfectly sums up Clark’s play at Le Golf National last week.

But the reality of 72-hole stroke play events is that you can’t win a golf tournament on a Thursday, but you can certainly lose it. Clark lost it on Thursday with his opening score of 4-over 75, but he didn’t lose anyone’s respect in the next three rounds. Instead, he should have won some, because his valiant efforts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were matched only by Scheffler, the best player in the world.

So for those of you who criticized Clark after day one, you owe him an apology.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_SpelenDoor for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko also.