Wyndham Clark set for Olympic debut

Clark joins Scheffler, Morikawa and Schauffele to represent U.S. in August

By Jim Bebbington

Wyndham Clark’s breakout 12 months ended in May – his first three wins; one major at the U.S. Open – and that strong performance came at just the right time to put him in contention for an opportunity that comes just once every four years. 

Clark is one of four American golfers who will represent the U.S. in the Paris Olympics this summer. The Colorado-native finished high enough on Olympic Golf Rankings list due to his wins that he automatically earned the berth on the U.S. team. The team was finalized this week.

Golf returned to the Olympics at the 2016 games in Rio. Justin Rose of Great Britain won gold for the men and Inbee Park of South Korea won the women’s gold. In 2021, the covid-delayed Olympics, Nelly Korda took gold for the women and Xander Schauffele won for the men.

The tournament is played out over four days of stroke play, with the low scores taking gold. The qualification cutoff date for making the top 4 from the U.S. team was June 17, the day after the U.S. Open. 

Clark finished in fourth place in the Olympic world golf rankings, third-best among Americans. Scottie Scheffler and Schauffele took the first two U.S. team slots, and Collin Morikawa was fourth. 

Speaking before the Memorial Tournament, Clark was excited about the possibility of making the team, but still cautious as it was not official.

“If I make the team, it would be a dream come true to represent my country,” Clark said. “For me, I’ve always dreamt of being on a podium and winning a medal. Whether it was in the other sports I played growing up and what not, but to do it in golf would be pretty amazing.”

How much did Clark watch the Olympics growing up?

“I watched a lot of them growing up. Anything Usain Bolt was in back in the day was always really exciting,” Clark said. “I’m also a huge hockey fan, so watching Miracle on Ice old clips from those days. Canada’s won so many hockey events. 

“The gymnastics are always really fun to watch. And then swimming is great to watch. I’ve gotten to know Michael Phelps pretty well, watching him, that was right as I was rising through the ranks, so seeing someone dominate that much in a single sport is just really amazing.”

The U.S. women’s  team consists of Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang. 

Both the men’s and women’s competitions will be held at Golf National, a 36-hole complex 25 miles southwest of Paris. The men compete Aug. 1 to 4 and the women compete Aug. 7 to 11. 

 

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Jim Bebbington is the Director of Content at Colorado AvidGolfer. Contact him at [email protected]