PEBBLE BEACH — Easily Wyndham Clark’s most meaningful achievement in golf is his victory in the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, a breakthrough triumph that was made more emotional by thoughts of his late mother. Yet he hasn’t watched one minute of the championship that resulted in his first major victory.
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Not so his third-round 60 in last year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which set the competitive course record at Pebble Beach Golf Links and resulted in his third PGA Tour title when the final round was canceled after a violent storm blew through the Monterey Peninsula overnight. That round he has gone back to watch.
“I still haven’t watched me play at L.A.C.C. or my first win at Quail Hollow [in the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship], but I watched that 60,” Clark said Wednesday at Pebble Beach. “I think that’s a great highlight reel where you get into the zone and everyone talks about that, and that’s something that I hope I get into each week.
“I remember those feelings. I started off that day pretty ho hum, made a nice eagle on 2 and birdie on 4. Then I make that long eagle putt on 6 and you’re like OK, this is kind of … seems like it’s going my way.”
And it did. Clark made his way around Pebble Beach until he found himself lining up a 26-footer for eagle that would give him a 59. He came up five inches short. But the Denver native didn’t end up short on the scoreboard, rallying from six strokes behind to edge Ludvig Aberg with a 17-under 199 total that ended up being the winning score.
Ranked seventh in the world, Clark, 31, said that he found himself learning a bit in the process of watching that round unfold. “It’s amazing how I can watch that and I start reliving those feelings,” he said. “Talk about sports psychology and mental stuff, you want to try to relive those feelings as much as possible and live in that space so that it sometimes becomes a reality when you play.”
The 123rd U.S. Open is a bit of a different story. Why hasn’t he gone back to watch his one-stroke victory over Rory McIlroy? It was a special week, but he had his reasons.
“I don’t know, probably because I cry like a little baby,” he said, mocking himself. “Pebble was such an awesome, awe inspiring … doesn’t necessarily bring the emotions of tears versus L.A. brings a lot of emotions of my mom and just the week and everything thathappened. “But I should watch it.”
Maybe watching last year’s event will change his fortunes in defending a title. The first two didn’t go very well–including a T-56 finish at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
“This week my whole thing is just to enjoy it,” said Clark, who recently brought his father to the Monterey Peninsula for his 70th birthday to play Pebble, Spyglass Hill and Cypress Point after the elder Clark had recovered sufficiently from open-heart surgery. “I think the first two I might have said that, but I was so focused on so many other things that wasn’t really important and I ultimately didn’t play good golf.
“So, this is a special place for me and the biggest thing is I always come here and I love being here. I enjoy the feeling it gives me, I love looking out and seeing the beauty. I think in previous times when I’ve tried to defend I lose that. So my biggest goal this week is to be present and look how beautiful Pebble Beach is. I did something amazing last year, doesn’t mean I’m going to do it this year, but hey, just enjoy the moment and hopefully I play great golf.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com