Wyndham Clark should be among the best players in the world – unfortunately, his current performance level isn’t anywhere near what the number four-ranked golfer should be producing.
When taking a brief look at the OWGR, the majority of the top ten compete on a regular basis.
Scottie Scheffler is in the top five nearly every week, Xander Schauffele is coming off a win at the PGA Championship and regularly contends, and Rory McIlroy is never far from the winners’ circle.
Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland have also proven that they deserve to be considered among the world’s best players.
Clark, who ranks fourth ahead of Hovland and Aberg, has endured an up-and-down 2024 thus far.
After a T2 finish at The Players, the 2023 U.S. Open champion looked to be one of the in-form players heading to Augusta.
However, a missed cut at The Masters proceeded another missed cut at the PGA Championship at Valhalla. During the week prior to the year’s second major, the 30-year-old finished T47 at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Clark would’ve been hoping to turn his form around at this week’s signature Memorial Tournament. However, after finishing on five over, the American will now have two extra days to prepare for his U.S. Open defence.
Golf fans all have the same concern about Wyndham Clark
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Golf fans have since reacted to Clark’s latest missed cut, and there have been suggestions that we might have already seen the best of the reigning U.S. Open champion.
Josey, writing on X, said: “Is Wyndham Clark cooked?” Another account added: “Wyndham Clark is the 2020s Bubba Watson.”
HecJuan also suggested that Clark might be past his best. He wrote: “Wyndham Clark washed?”
The X account added: “Wyndham Clark is a rubbish ball striker, it’s finally catching up to him. I don’t know how he plays with a banana slice off the tee.”
Massive U.S. Open defence in store for Wyndham Clark at Pinehurst No.2
Clark’s defence of his U.S. Open title at Pinehurst feels significant. Retaining the title will be a challenging task, but at least making the cut has to be his aim.
As documented during Netflix’s hit series ‘Full Swing’, Clark’s mental fortitude was once a weakness. After his victory at LACC, he was clearly among the most mentally stable players in the game.
He will once again have to rely upon what’s in between the ears during next week’s U.S. Open.
Pinehurst No.2 isn’t a course for the faint-hearted and will undoubtedly test all aspects of Clark’s character – and it’s a challenge he must stand up to.
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