Being a professional golfer (especially a major winner) means that you most likely have the confidence and conviction that would crush a lesser individual. You have to if you’re going to compete week in and week out with some of the best athletes in the world.
Wyndham Clark is no exception, and as the reigning U.S. Open champ, he’s ready for a Rory McIlroy matchup if the situation calls for it. The two went head-to-head back in June at the Los Angeles Country Club, with Clark besting McIlroy by one stroke to win his first major. The Ryder Cup rookie is using that victory as inspiration and is up to the task of taking on the four-time major winner at Marco Simone.
In an interview with Golf Channel, Clark discussed the potential “David and Goliath” matchup and some of the other golfers that he hopes he gets a chance to play against, most notably Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland. Jump to the seven-minute mark if you want to watch Clark’s Rory comments.
“I have the utmost respect for Rory – he is one of our great ambassadors of our game. He is obviously one of the best of all time and he is still going so he can be that. I have tons of respect for Rory and because of that respect, I also want to beat him. I like to think I am better than him and I want to prove that,” said Clark.
“I would love to play Rory, I think that would be really fun for the fans too. Long-ball hitters. We have similar games in that respect. It would be a little bit of David and Goliath. I am hoping to get that chance. Regardless of who I play, I am really excited. But that one would be a lot of fun.”
Clark certainly didn’t shy away there, but if he doesn’t get a chance to take on the Northern Irishman, there’s a Spaniard and Norwegian that’ll do.
“One guy I would love to have a piece of, because the one loss I had in college was to him, is Viktor Hovland. He clipped me on the 18th hole. If there is any competition or anyone I would like another chance at, it would be Viktor.
“And Jon Rahm. I live in Arizona and so does Jon. We play together–there is always trash talk and even when we are having a friendly match we want to make sure we don’t lose to each other, even if we lose to the other guys in the group. We don’t want to lose to each other. Any of those guys would be a lot of fun to play against.”
As a first-time Ryder Cupper, Clark is definitely giving off the impression that he’s keen for the festivities to begin. There’s no doubt that most of the participants have a similar bravado, but saying it for the world to hear is an exciting addition to what’s to come. Let’s hope we get a Wyndham vs. Rory singles matchup and that McIlroy has this bulletin board material locked and loaded. Let the games begin.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
