PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — When I saw Windham Clark win the U.S. Open last June, I hadn’t heard much about him before and thought it was a one-time thing. People may think this way. I would like to reconsider that idea.
Clark, 30, has quietly become one of golf’s biggest game hunters, and now he’s looking ahead to the $4.5 million first prize awarded to the winner of The Players Championship and the prestige of his career. I’m aiming. It comes with winning the sport’s “fifth major.”
Clark, who shot a 7-under 65 in Friday’s second round at TPC Sawgrass, holds a four-shot lead heading into the final 36 holes at 14 under.
The only players who did well for Clark in the wave of afternoon tee times were Xander Schauffele, who shot a 69, and Nick Taylor, who shot a 68. Both are trailing Clark by four strokes.
2022 U.S. Open champions Matthew Fitzpatrick and Maverick McNeely are both 9 under.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Canadian Corey Connors, German debutant Matti Schmidt, who double-bogeyed the 18th final hole, and Tom Hoge were six strokes back at 8 under. .
Defending British Open champion Brian Harman, JT Poston, Saheeth Segala and CT Pan are at 7 under.
That’s because Clark, who won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, one of the PGA Tour’s “higher class” events, in February, is following in the footsteps of Scheffler, who has been ranked No. 1 in the world for the past 10 months. It seems like it is.
Until 2022, Scheffler had never won a tournament, despite frequently trending in contention. Then he finally broke through and has won seven times since then, including the 2022 Masters and last year’s Players.
Clark earned his first career win at last year’s Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow, won the U.S. Open and won again at Pebble. He’s playing even better golf now, 36 holes away from winning for the fourth time in less than two years.
When asked how his success in big tournaments is going, Clark looks confused.
“I really don’t know what it is,” he said. “I want to play great every week. I’ve been really watching how Scotty has played this year and last year, and I’m using him as a guy to try to catch up to, and he’s He plays well every week.
“I have a lot of respect for Scottie and his play and his consistency, and he’s just kind of a beacon of where you want to be right now,” Clark said. “I think the best thing about Scotty is his consistency. Last year…I was very consistent in the rankings, always in the top 20 and then won a few times, but… , Scotty is always in the fray.
“He’s pushed me to be better and it’s fun to watch him. So I’m really trying to catch him. I really credit him for how good my golf has been lately. ”
Clark highlighted his day by going home with a 6-under 30 on the final nine holes, his first on the back nine since starting at No. 10.
“That’s pretty cool,” he said. “More than anything, I’m really excited that after a so-so front nine, I turned and got into a really good zone and felt really good on the green and hit some great numbers.”
Clark seems to have unlocked himself and his ability to win at his game through the work he has done on his mental game by bringing sports psychologist Julie Elian on his team and working with him. Elion has worked with several golfers including Phil Mickelson.
“I felt a lot better mentally heading into Quail Hollow and had a lot of good finishes,” Clark said. “I made the cut 19 times in a row and had a few chances to win, but my putts weren’t good.
“When I switched to my previous putter, the Jailbird, I started making so many more putts, and all the work I was doing off the course with my mental game was visible on the course. I started hitting it. So probably the biggest thing is a combination of my mental game and my putting, and now I’m able to hit some good scores.”
With two more strong scores this weekend, Clark will win more big tournaments and strengthen his reputation as a big game hunter.
West Chester’s Cam Young, who grew up at Sleepy Hollow Country Club where his father and coach, David, was the head pro for 20 years, shot a 3-under 69 on Friday to move to 5 under for the tournament.
Despite playing well the past two years, Young is looking for his first PGA Tour win. Young has played in 58 tour tournaments and has six runner-up finishes, two third-place finishes, nine top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes.
Since turning professional, he has participated in nine major tournaments, finishing runner-up, tied for 3rd, tied for 7th, and tied for 8th. Young has won more than $13 million on his PGA Tour, but he covets his first win more than any other prize money.
