SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Three former U.S. Open champions are in the field for the men’s Olympic Golf Tournament. But not the most recent one.
In fact, Bryson DeChambeau has won two of the past five U.S. Opens and—although he would have played in Japan in 2021 but was forced out due to COVID-19—he’s not at Le Golf National for the start of the tournament Thursday.
Wyndham Clark is and it’s easy to suggest that DeChambeau is more deserving, certainly based on recency bias.
DeChambeau finished in the top six in three major championships this year; Clark missed the cut in three. In the one major where Clark made the cut—the U.S. Open—DeChambeau was the winner.
It is under that backdrop that Clark arrived outside of Paris looking to get back to the form he showed earlier this year when he won at Pebble Beach and contended at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship—finishing second at both to Scottie Scheffler.
“It’s been a unique year,” Clark said Wednesday in advance of the tournament. “I started out fantastic and in previous years on Tour, I typically have kind of played better at the end or the year.
“But I kind of have some injuries I've been dealing with, happened right before Houston leading into the Masters, and I haven't been the same. I feel like I'm finally getting to where I can swing at the level that I know I can swing, and so that's kind of been an ongoing issue and it's been frustrating for me.
“Then I've got to be honest, I've been very frustrated with how I played at the majors. I believe that I wasn't showing how good of a player I know I can be, and especially at highest level in the majors. But I've also got to look at how far I've come in two years. I'm fifth on the FedEx in back-to-back years and I've won multiple times and I have a lot of top finishes and I'm here at the Olympics.
“So I've got to make sure I don't let the outside people put too much pressure on myself because I've grown so much in these two years. It's not where I want to be in the future, but years like this, I've learned a lot and I'm hoping I take all the things I learned and play better in the majors next year.”
The other U.S. Open champions in the field are Spain’s Jon Rahm (2021) and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (2022). Clark won last year at Los Angeles Country Club and added the victory earlier this year at Pebble Beach.
Clark was never really in big danger on missing out on the Olympics. Despite his poor form in the majors, he had those high finishes at Bay Hill and the Players. He tied for third at the RBC Heritage. That pushed him high enough in the rankings that he was able to stay among the top four Americans through the U.S. Open.
It was Collin Morikawa who was sweating it out. The two-time major winner won in the fall at the Zozo Championship but was battling for his Olympic spot through the U.S. Open, edging Patrick Cantlay for the final position at the end of the qualifying deadline which came via the Official World Golf Ranking.
Morikawa finished tied for 14th at the U.S. Open. Cantlay needed a two-way tie for second at the U.S. Open—basically one shot—and finished third to finish behind him and out of the Olympics.
“When I look at it and compare right where I am now to where I was in January and February and March, there's been a lot of big wins,” Morikawa said. “I've worked my ass off to get here and just because I made it doesn't mean it's over and doesn't mean I'm getting my paddles back.
“I've been here before (at the 2021 Olympics), and I know what it feels like to honestly lose in a playoff for Bronze and that sucks. There's a lot of motivation just pushing yourself to come out and play some really good golf.”
Morikawa was in the final group with Scheffler at the Masters before finishing tied for third and he tied for fourth at the Masters, playing with Schauffele in the final group
He was also tied for fourth at the Scottish Open before tying for 16th at the British Open.
Clark tied for ninth at the Travelers and tied for 10th at the Scottish with a strong final round, then missed the cut at Royal Troon.
“Ever since the Masters, I haven't been able to get up to the speed that I normally have with driver and I've been hitting it a lot shorter,” Clark said. “It's been a lot of things where it led me down a path of, is it something in my swing, is it equipment, and then come full circle, we just realize now I'm a lot healthier, and maybe there was a couple equipment things.
“But you start going down rabbit holes that maybe I shouldn't have gone down and next thing you know, I'm missing cuts by a little bit and not playing at the level that I was earlier in the year or some parts of last year.”
Clark said he’s gotten a boost playing with Scheffler as his partner in practice rounds against Schauffele and Morikawa.
He’s also soaked up the experience, arriving for and taking part in the Opening Ceremony. He said he’s attended at least one Olympic event per night through Tuesday, including gymnastics.
“For me it only inspires you to see how hard they work, and they come to this moment,” Clark said. “It's amazing that they excel under the lights when they have to. I really appreciate what they do and inspired, to be honest.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as After a Frustrating Majors Season, Wyndham Clark Seeks Olympic Redemption.
