Wyndham Clark signed for a closing 65 to finish T14 at the Paris 2024 men's Olympic golf tournament - a position he would surely have taken following a tough opening session on Thursday.
The World No.5 began the week at Le Golf National with a four-over 75 - not helped by a rough first three holes where he posted bogey, double, bogey.
During that early difficult period and after coming off the course on Thursday, Clark was subjected to a plethora of criticism from people on social media who felt he was not good enough to be there and should have been replaced by the in-form Bryson DeChambeau.
Yet, due to the criteria of Olympic qualification, Clark achieved the berth on the USA's four-man team after securing more points in OWGR-recognized events - something DeChambeau struggled to achieve given his status as a LIV golfer.
There were also several accounts which claimed that Clark's preparation was not concentrated enough, with the 30-year-old aiming to make the most of his Olympic experience by watching several other sports in Paris before the golf began.
Clark followed up his first-round 75 with scores of 68, 65, and 65 thereafter to finish on 11-under for the tournament - eight shots behind 2024 gold medallist, Scottie Scheffler.
Having showed immense character and quality to bounce back from his slow beginning - a self-confessed habit Clark is keen to end as soon as possible - the Denver golfer insisted he was as prepared as he needed to be and would do it all over again if he had the chance.
Asked if he heard or read any of the criticism online, Clark said: "I didn't hear any of that but I knew some other stuff. I think some of it wasn't very justified because you know, I was the third-highest ranked player for the US to come here.
"Yeah, poor start. I don't think it has anything to do with attending events or not attending events.
"This potentially could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and to be able to go watch events, spend time in the [Olympic] Village and get the full experience, may never get that again. So I wanted to make sure I did everything right. I don't regret anything I did.
"Once I got to Tuesday, I shut everything down and was ready to go. I played really good golf for 60 holes. I just had nine bad holes."
Possibly the most integral aspect behind Clark's turnaround in form this week was down to his putting. In rounds one and two, the 2023 US Open champion was 56th and 41st, respectively, in Strokes Gained: Putting before drastically improving on that during Saturday (3rd) and Sunday (10th).
Clark stated that it was showing some pride for his country that really fuelled him to turn things around, however.
Asked how he bounced back at Le Golf National, he said: "I think it's more pride for myself and my country. I wanted to make sure that I showed up for my country.
"I didn't want anyone to think that I was doing this as just an exhibition or just coming here to have fun. I was serious about it. I was very pissed after round one because I wanted to medal. So I'm really bummed about it.
"But at the same time, I said this is for something greater than myself. It's for my country and it also builds a lot of momentum for the Playoffs that we have coming up."
