Wyndham Wins

by Rockin’ Reese

A young man graduated from the University of Oregon 7 became a professional golfer, 6 years ago. Last month, he finally recorded a PGA Tour victory by winning the Wells Fargo Championship. How does he follow that? He wins his 1st major championship, by winning this weekend’s US Open. American golf fans, welcome Wyndham Clark to your existence.

The 29-year old Clark was born in Denver, CO. He graduated from Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch with (current NFL running back) Christian McCaffrey. He was a 2-time Colorado state golf champion and was the 2011 player of the year.

He originally attended Oklahoma State University, where he would be Big 12 Player of the year, as a redshirt freshman. However, during that season, a tragic event happened in young Wyndham’s life. His mother would pass away, due to breast cancer. After the season was over, Wyndham’s life & game would enter a downward spiral.

It almost got to the point, where he almost quit playing golf. However, a fateful reunion would turn his life around. He transferred to Oregon in his senior year & reunited with Casey Martin (the coach who recruited him in high school). His game improved & he would win the Pac-12 Championship. More importantly, Wyndham was mentally & emotionally healthy and was able to find his love for golf, again.

After being cut in the 2 previous US Opens & this year’s PGA Championship, Wyndham was starting to wonder what it would take for him to win a major championship. Going into 2023, his best finish was being the runner-up in the 2020 Bermuda Championship.

However, that would change 2 weeks before the PGA Championship, when he would set a scoring record of 265, breaking Rory McIlroy’s 2015 record of 267, to win the Wells Fargo Championship. Ironically, Clark’s 19 strokes under par was the 2nd best behind McIlroy’s 21 under par (which was also set in 2015). When he came to the Los Angeles Country Club, Clark was feeling like something special was ready to happen.

On the first day of the US Open, he finished with a 64 (being 6 under par, tying with Dustin Johnson for 3rd place). Fellow Americans Rickie Fowler & Xander Schauffele had the lead with 62 (8 under the par). On day 2, Clark shot a 67 & moved up to 2nd place (9 under par), 1 stroke behind Fowler. Schauffele fell to a 3rd-place tie with McIlroy.

On day 3, Clark shot a 69 & finished the day tied with Fowler for the lead (10 under par), while McIlroy was 1 stroke behind them. On the final day, Fowler slipped to 5 under par & a 3-way tiie for 5th place. Despite pressure from McIlroy & a lte surge from Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham would maintain his 10 under par standing & win the 2023 US Open.

From tragedy to triumph, Wyndham Clark has proven that redemption can happen to anyone, if they’re willing to put the work in & pull themselves out of their dark places. Hopefully, this is only the beginning of Clark’s story. If so, I’m sure that there will be a lot of Wynners supporting him, in the future.