Wyndham Clark Says Fans Chanting For Fowler And McIlroy 'Pissed' Him Off At U.S. Open, Motivated Him To Victory
Wyndham Clark was tied atop the leaderboard alongside Rickie Fowler heading into Sunday's final round at the U.S. Open, but was the forgotten man. Add the fact that Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler were playing the role of chaser, and not many people were talking about Clark, and he noticed it.
Speaking with Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio reflecting on his one-shot win at Los Angeles Country Club, Clark was refreshingly honest about the entire experience.
He wasn't caught off guard with how many fans were pulling for McIlroy and Fowler to pull through given that they're both huge fan favorites, but he did let it motivate him.
“It kind of pissed me off walking around and everyone was chanting ‘Rickie’ and ‘Rory’ and I get it, they’re fan favorites, but everyone kind of wrote me off," Clark explained. "Even JT in his tweet was like: ‘I see Xander coming out hot’ and this and that, no mention of me and I was like: ‘Alright, boys, you know, get ready for it.’”
Given that he was able to get the job done at LACC, it's safe to say that Clark is comfortable being the underdog. He's had plenty of experience being an overlooked player, but hasn't let that affect his extremely high self confidence level, especially this PGA Tour season.
In his mind, he's played the best golf of anyone out there not named Scottie Scheffler.
“People really watching the golf over the last, whatever, months, I feel like maybe other than Scottie I was playing better golf than all of them to be honest," Clark continued.
Prior to becoming a major champion, Wyndham Clark won the Wells Fargo Championship, an elevated event, in May. He's paired both of his wins with five other Top 12 finishes this season and currently holds an automatic spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team ahead of the event in Italy this fall.
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