At TPC Sawgrass, Wyndham Clark rises to occasion again in one of golf's big events

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The three times Wyndham Clark has won, it meant a little more and moved the needle.

With Brooks Koepka gone to LIV Golf, Clark has become the PGA Tour’s big-game hunter.

A victory at The Players Championship — where he leads by 4 strokes after 36 holes — would fit the profile of the reigning U.S. Open champion, who also has won at demanding Quail Hollow and historic Pebble Beach.

Clark cannot explain why he’s at his best during big events. But he’s certain he’d like to show up more often.

“I just really don’t know what it is,” he said. “I would like to play great every week.”

No golfer has been nearly as good thus far at TPC Sawgrass.

Clark carded his second straight 7-under 65, highlighted by a 30 on his second nine holes Friday, to reach 14-under-par 130 total.

Xander Schauffele, an 18-hole co-leader with Clark, and Canada’s Nick Taylor are 10-under. Matthew Fitzpatrick is next, five strokes back along with Maverick McNealy. Still in the mix, of course, is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at 8-under with three other players.

Coming off a 5-shot win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and within striking distance entering the weekend, Scheffler is golf’s gold standard and Clark’s prototype.

“I have so much respect for Scottie,” he said. “The best thing about Scottie is his consistency. Scottie’s always in contention. He’s pushed me to be better and it’s fun to watch him, and so I’m really trying to catch him.”

Bothered by a stiff neck Friday that required treatment as he sat in a chair next to the 14th tee box, Scheffler could not keep up with Clark.

But until Clark routinely contends, the Koepka comparison is more apropos.

Koepka’s nine PGA Tour wins include five major championships, a pace no one ever has matched and Clark is well off. Like Koepka, though, Clark is a late bloomer who followed a trying path to the top.

Along the way, the 30-year-old was unpredictable, temperamental and supremely talented. Once he began working with sports psychologist Dr. Julie Elion in early 2023, Clark began to settle down.

The eureka moment was a putter switch after the opening round of the 2023 Valspar Championship in Tampa. The Odyssey Jailbird fully unlocked the mental work Clark had put in, leading to a fourth-place finish.

“I started really seeing a lot of putts go in, and then all the work that I did off the course in my mental game I started seeing it on the course,” he recalled.

A cooler head and hot flat stick came together last spring during a breakthrough win at the Wells Fargo Championship. The following month, Clark won the U.S. Open by holding off 24-time Tour winner Rory McIlroy by a shot.

Clark’s course-record 60 in January at Pebble Beach was another display of his putting prowess, highlighted by a 42-foot eagle effort, along with his firepower — he ranks 11th on Tour with an average drive of 307.4.

Fitzpatrick, the 2022 U.S. Open champion, doesn’t know the ins and outs of Clark’s game but enough to realize the challenge of chasing him down.

“I’ve not played with Wyndham a lot, other than seeing his results, which are fantastic,” he said. “All I know from what I’ve seen on TV is that he drives the ball a hell of a long way and straight.”

Clark remains too wayward too often for his liking.

The world No. 5 has managed just two top-25s during six previous starts in 2024, including a runner-up last week at Bay Hill — itself one of the Tour’s premier events.

Those in front of him and just behind him in the world rankings tend to be top-10 machines. Schauffele, at No. 6, does so 32.1% of the time compared with a 12.7% rate for Clark in just 19 fewer PGA Tour starts.

The two will square off in the third round’s final pairing.

“All you’re trying to do is put some pressure on someone,” Schauffele said. “He’s been playing incredible golf for quite a few months now. He’s got the power and precision and he’s very confident right now.”