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Wyndham Clark entered 2025 with everything going for him. He was the reigning U.S. Open champion. He’d won three times in two years. His world ranking sat at No. 7. The 2023 Wells Fargo and 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am titles validated his breakthrough. He’d played on both the 2023 Ryder Cup and 2024 Presidents Cup teams, winning the latter. Then everything fell apart. Fast. By mid-November, Clark had plummeted to No. 33 in the world. His FedEx Cup Fall standing dropped to No. 61. When asked to sum up his season in one word, he didn’t hold back. “Pretty shitty,” he told Golfweek. ADVERTISEMENT But the numbers only tell part of the story. Clark’s 2025 will be remembered for two viral incidents that exposed his breaking point. First came the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. During the final round, frustration boiled over on the 16th hole. Clark hurled his driver after a poor tee shot. The club smashed into a sponsor sign and broke on impact. He apologized the next day. Three weeks later, the U.S. Open brought something worse. Clark fired rounds of 74-74 at Oakmont and missed the cut by one stroke. After his second round, he destroyed two lockers in the historic clubhouse. The outburst damaged locker doors and splintered wooden panels at one of golf’s most revered venues. Photos leaked online. The backlash was swift and brutal. ADVERTISEMENT Clark stayed silent for nearly a week. Finally, at the Travelers Championship, he faced the media. His words came without excuses or deflection. “I did something I regret. I brought it upon myself. Any negative press was self-induced and probably deserved.” ADVERTISEMENT Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports He didn’t stop there. Clark acknowledged the deeper issue driving his behavior. “I started spiraling a little bit mentally and my swing got off,” he admitted. The pressure of being a top-10 player had consumed him. “You don’t want to be defined by your golf,” he said. “But that’s the struggle we have out here.” Clark described himself as being in a “bad, dark place.” Golf wasn’t just affecting his scores anymore. It was bleeding into everything else. The expectations felt suffocating. The sense that everything was slipping away became overwhelming. “What happened at the U.S. Open was the kick in the face to say, ‘Hey, wake up, let’s get back to who I am.'” ADVERTISEMENT Clark’s turnaround after owning his mistakes Something shifted after Oakmont. The accountability seemed to unlock something. Clark opened with a 64 at the Travelers and finished T17. Two weeks later, he entered Sunday’s final round at the Scottish Open in third place. He ultimately finished T11, but the solid play continued. Then came the British Open. Clark posted a T4 finish at 11-under, just one stroke behind winner Scottie Scheffler. He shot 65 in the final round. The Memphis tournament showed similar promise before a weekend stumble dropped him to T56. ADVERTISEMENT The turnaround wasn’t just about scores. Clark brought in Pat Coyner from Cherry Hills as his new coach. They worked on shortening his backswing, which had gotten too deep. More importantly, Clark rediscovered something that had always fueled him. “I love it,” he said about having a chip on his shoulder. “There’s something about grinding it out and people overlooking you. When you do that, it’s very rewarding.” Clark’s situation mirrors his struggles from 2022. That year, his inner circle staged an intervention. He started working with sports psychologist Julie Elion. The result? His best golf followed, culminating in the 2023 U.S. Open victory. Now he’s looking ahead with renewed hunger. Oakmont banned him pending restitution and completion of an anger management program. The PGA Tour signature events might require sponsor exemptions. None of it fazes him anymore. “I feel like I matured a lot this year. You learn so much more in bad years than you do in good years. It’s made me really hungry for next year.” Clark knows the road back won’t be easy. But he’s betting on himself again. And history suggests that’s when he plays his best golf.
