ATLANTA \u2013 Coming off his victory this past Sunday, Wyndham Clark is one of the favorites to contend this week at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean Clark will get overtly favorable support from spectators. It just hasn\u2019t been the narrative for the two-time U.S. Open champion and now six-time winner on the PGA Tour, including three events this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m enjoying how the year is going,\u201d Clark, 32, said when asked about a \u201cme-against-the-world vibe\u201d at his pre-tournament press conference Tuesday. \u201cYou know what\u2019s funny is I\u2019ve now had six wins, and I think in all six of those wins I was never the crowd favorite. I always heard other people\u2019s cheers. Maybe one day I\u2019ll be who everyone is rooting for.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019m having fun with what I\u2019m doing. It\u2019s been a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark got a better reception, and perhaps picked up more fans, last week at the BMW Championship in St. Louis. He shared the tournament lead after the opening round, was one shot ahead after the second round, increased his advantage to five strokes going into Sunday and lost it early on the back nine at Bellerive Country Club.<\/p>\n
However, his even-par 70 put him at 17-under 263 for a three-stroke victory over Patrick Cantlay in the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. He rose to No. 3 in the points standings, easily making the 30-player field for the season finale.<\/p>\n
Clark acknowledged some high-fives and cheers from fans, but he also heard the support for star Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland. McIlroy, in the final pairing with Clark, tied him for the lead before making bogey at No. 17 while his playing partner made a 13-foot birdie on the hole.<\/p>\n
\u201cSt. Louis fans were amazing,\u201d Clark said. \u201cHonestly, they were never rooting against me. It\u2019s just I was playing against Rory. It\u2019s Rory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when someone has a lead like I did, they want to see it get close and exciting, and then it\u2019s Rory. By no means were they mean or anything. When I hit good shots, they cheered for me, and I heard a lot of good things. I just wasn\u2019t maybe the crowd favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark, at No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is no stranger to final-round heroics, having made the cut in 17 of 22 events with six top-five finishes this year. He won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May and the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in June, adding to his 2023 title at Los Angeles Country Club that was his first major.<\/p>\n
In between his two U.S. Open championships, Clark missed the 2025 cut at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh. That result was punctuated when he damaged a locker in the locker room, and he was temporarily banned from the club \u2013 which put a negative wrinkle to his backstory moving forward.<\/p>\n
He later apologized, paid for damages, donated to charity, went to anger management counseling and has shown remorse.<\/p>\n
While Clark has earned more than $14 million in official money this season, that doesn\u2019t mean the competition gets easier. In fact, he said it\u2019s harder to play with a sizeable lead than a small one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s a one-shot lead, I think it\u2019s a little easier to play your best golf,\u201d Clark said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re up by five or six shots, it can be difficult because you\u2019re kind of just \u2013 your mind is almost wanting to just be on the last three holes knowing you\u2019re going to win the tournament and you want it to be over, versus if you had a one-shot lead or you\u2019re tied or you\u2019re one back, you\u2019re so excited and focused for every opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark said he needs to learn to be better at playing with large leads, which is not a bad problem to have.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as what happened at the BMW, I just kind of was \u2013 I just wasn\u2019t focused,\u201d he said of Sunday\u2019s round. \u201cI was kind of just foggy when I was playing. I think what got me out of it wasn\u2019t anything physical. It was more when Rory tied it up, and then it kind of hit me like, \u2018Oh, my gosh, I could lose this.\u2019 Finally making that putt on 16 (a 16 1\/2-foot birdie on the par-3 hole), I kind of snapped out of it and I got back to playing the good golf that I know I can play.\u201d<\/p>\n
-Field Level Media<\/p>\n