Wyndham Clark apologizes for Sunday meltdown

Clark threw driver after an errant shot

By Jim Bebbington

Since winning at the 2023 U.S. Open, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Wyndham Clark has struggled to regain his form at the PGA Tour’s biggest events, and his frustration bubbled over on live TV Sunday.

Playing the 4th round of the PGA Championship Clark drove into the right rough off the 16th tee, then whipped his club behind him into an advertising board at the back of the tee box. His driver head separated from the shaft and he threw his club shaft angrily into the rough.

Clark did not speak to the media after Sunday’s round. He shot 3-over par on Sunday and finished in 50th place, earning $40,000.

Clark said in a message posted online Monday “My actions were uncalled for and completely inappropriate, making it clear that I have things I need to work on.”

At last year’s BMW Championship, ironically while playing with Clark, Rory McIlroy threw his driver into the edge of a pond after hitting off the 17th tee box. That was more of a resigned toss, however, and McIlroy quickly scampered down the tee box slope to retrieve his driver from the water. The next day McIlroy finished the job, leaning on his driver so hard after another errant tee shot he snapped the shaft in half.

For the week, Clark statistically wasn’t as troubled by his driver as he was by his putter. He ranked 70th of 74 players in strokes gained putting.

With his driver, he tied for 45th place in driving accuracy, hitting fairways 57 percent of the time. His average distance off the tee remained elite – he tied for 6th place with an average drive of 321 yards. His longest was 381 yards.

But hitting his second shots out of the rough 43 percent of the time yielded mixed results on the greens. Clark hit only 51 percent of greens in regulation, and his putting suffered from there.

By comparison, tournament winner Scottie Scheffler ranked middle of the pack in driving accuracy – 62.5 percent – but ranked No. 1 in strokes gained tee-to-green.

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— Wyndham Clark (@Wyndham_Clark) May 19, 2025

Clark has won three times on the Tour and credited his work with a sports psychologist as well as the practice of meditation for helping him manage his emotions. But in the majors since his 2023 U.S. Open victory he has struggled. He missed the cut in three of last year’s majors, playing on the weekend only during The Open Championship, where he finished T-56. This season he finished T-46 at the Masters and T-50 this weekend.

The next major, the U.S. Open, will be held June 12 to 15 at Oakmont Country Club.