Defending U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark's first major win was the culmination of a journey to accepting that his golf game has no bearing on his self-worth.
began the walk down the No. 1 fairway in the final round of the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, many fans cheered forIt was a far cry from the conversation Ellis had with Clark eight months earlier in the final round of the CJ Cup at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina. Clark was on his way to tying for 29th at 5 under, 12 shots behind winner McIlroy.Walking up the fairway of the 18th hole, Clark had only 11 clubs in his bag -- instead of the allowable 14.
Ellis encouraged Clark to contact performance coach Julie Elion, the founder of the Center for Athletic Performance Enhancement, who had helped PGA Tour golferswasn't keen on the idea of working with Elion. He had worked with sports psychologists throughout his career and sought therapists' help following his mother Lise's death from breast cancer in 2013. He didn't believe any of them had helped.
Elion's assessment of Clark's willingness to peel back the mental obstacles that were preventing him from becoming one of the best golfers in the world didn't change much after their initial face-to-face meeting at an Arizona Starbucks in January 2023. A former All-American at Oklahoma State and Oregon, Clark's professional career had gotten off to a promising start. In 2019, he was one of eight PGA Tour rookies to make the FedEx Cup playoffs after piling up three top-10s and eight top-25s. Then things went south. The next season, he missed 12 cuts in 23 starts. During the first round of the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, he walked off the course after carding three bogeys in four holes and withdrew.
Randall Clark was a star tennis player growing up in Albuquerque. He is one of only two four-time individual state champions in New Mexico high school history. He was a No. 1 singles player at the University of Arizona, but his promising professional career was derailed by injuries. Although Clark was named an All-American by Golfweek and voted Big 12 Player of the Year the next season, the weight of his mother's absence soon began to take a toll on his life and game. After struggling much of the next two years, he transferred to Oregon for his final college season."So when things were tough or when things were going great, she was always there to keep me grounded and either bring me up or keep the high going," Clark said.
Randall wasn't at Los Angeles Country Club when his son captured the biggest victory of his career at the 2023 U.S. Open. Clark said his dad"couldn't make it" and"didn't want to jinx anything." Gaskill's two older daughters, Kaitlyn and Kaleah, who were 6 and 9 at the time, relished Clark's presence. They painted his fingernails and did his hair. When he returned home from a tournament, there was a banner congratulating him on his performance, whether he finished first or 23rd.
"He was just kind of scrambling in a semi-angry mode of, 'Why can't I figure this out?'" Martin said."It wasn't so much a golf issue as it was just putting the ducks in a row. Just getting his life kind of balanced and just getting a clear head. That happened here at Oregon because I kind of knew that needed to happen because it was obvious that it wasn't a talent issue or a skill issue.
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