Wyndham Clark seems to have enjoyed a much-needed upturn in form in recent weeks after coming in for intense criticism off the back of the US Open.
It has been a difficult season for Wyndham Clark. He failed to register a top 10 in any of his first seven starts of the year on the PGA Tour. Meanwhile, he went into The Open Championship having finished no higher than 46th in any of the previous three majors.
Of course, the US Open proved to be a week that Clark would prefer to forget. Brandel Chamblee called for Clark to be suspended after he damaged the lockers at Oakmont on his way to missing the cut.
Oakmont announced that Clark had been suspended for the time being. Some were baffled that Clark had seemingly not already paid to repair the damages.
The part of Wyndham Clark’s game which is incredibly underrated
But he seems to be doing his best to be in the headlines for more positive reasons. He was in the final group on Sunday at the Genesis Scottish Open. And the 31-year-old followed that by finishing tied for fourth at The Open Championship.
A 12th place finish at the 3M Open has moved Clark inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup. But, while he is trying to force his way into Ryder Cup contention, Clark has decided to withdraw from the Wyndham Championship perhaps with one eye on being well rested for the playoffs.
However, judging by Smylie Kaufman‘s comments on The Smylie Show before news of his withdrawal broke, the decision to not play this week may not have been a bad one.
“He’s clearly playing some good golf, has confidence in his game right now. He’s always been a really good putter in my mind, I think one of the most underrated putters on the tour really, especially if you give him enough putts from that 10 to 30 foot range, he’s going to make a couple a round. That’s how good a putter he is and how hot he can get,” he said.
“For him at Wyndham, it’s not really a good course fit at all because it takes his strengths out of his hands, which is his driving distance, how far he can hit it. But it also makes him play strategic golf where he can play that little tee down driver, just get the ball in the fairway, give himself opportunity with his wedges. He’s a bit of an inconsistent iron player I would say, and really from seven iron up, it gets a little erratic. But I think the wedges can be good at times.
“I would just say this golf course, to me, Wyndham is such a placement golf course. If you’re driving it good at Wyndham, you’re obviously getting some more opportunities. But it’s a narrow golf course.”
Where Wyndham Clark sits in the qualification standings for the Ryder Cup
Clark sees himself as one of the world’s best players. So he will be hugely disappointed with how the majority of this season has played out.
It is certainly not a given that he will be teeing it up at Bethpage at the Ryder Cup.
He is 16th in the qualification standings and running out of chances to prove himself to Keegan Bradley.
The encouraging news for Clark is that he played alongside Bradley at the Presidents Cup last year, so had a fantastic opportunity to show what he could do to the captain.
He also seems to be building some momentum, which is extremely important when it comes to those last couple of picks.
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