US Olympic golfer Wyndham Clark describes an injury ‘trend’ repeating in his career
Wyndham Clark is in Memphis, Tennessee, for the ongoing FedEx St. Jude Championship. Ahead of the tournament, Clark discussed various golf-related topics including the mental grind at the Olympics and the impact that injuries have had on his performances this season.
Wyndham Clark has played much of the 2024 season through pain. A back injury after the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am cast doubts on the 30-year-old's participation at the 2024 Houston Open. However, Clark got on a rapid rehabilitation program with the help of his team and managed to compete at the event. After four rounds at the 2024 Houston Open, Clark scored 4-under to finish T31.
In a recent episode of "The Smylie Show" on YouTube, Clark discussed his injury woes and said he has noticed a 'trend' that has been repeating in his career. The 2024 Olympics Team USA Member said:
"I've noticed a trend that I've done on tour. So this first time I've really had an injury. It happened right before Augusta and since then I've had some lower back stiffness. So I went from having pretty regular 185 to 188 ball speed and I was barely getting 180 and and yes 180 is still fast and what not. But that trickles down the whole entire bag and you just feel stiff and then you make bad swings and you flip at it. And so I would go through days where it was really stiff didn't feel good and then other days it was good... So it's been a constant battle. Now as I've gotten healthier amd feel better about it, I've started to be a little bit better. But in that now I've added expectations in the starting round. So it's funny how it all starts with the injury and then it's just a trickle effect," Wyndham said (23:40-24:48).
What position did Wyndham Clark achieve in Round 1 of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship?
The FedEx St. Jude Championship is an important first step if Wyndham Clark aspires to become the 2024 Tour Champion. After Round 1 at the TPC Southwind in Memphis Tennesse, Clark scored 2-under and tied for 18th position. Here is a detailed look at the leaderboard of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship after the first round:
- 1 Chris Kirk -6
- T2 Taylor Pendrith -5
- T2 Matthieu Pavon -5
- T2 Hideki Matsuyama -5
- T5 Justin Rose -4
- T5 Ben Griffin -4
- T5 Tommy Fleetwood -4
- T5 Brendon Todd -4
- T5 Denny McCarthy -4
- T5 Scottie Scheffler -4
- T5 Xander Schauffele -4
- T12 Justin Thomas -3
- T12 Peter Malnati -3
- T12 Séamus Power -3
- T12 Nick Dunlap -3
- T12 Sam Burns -3
- T12 Robert MacIntyre -3
- T18 Cameron Young -2
- T18 Billy Horschel -2
- T18 Wyndham Clark -2
- T18 Rory McIlroy -2
- T18 Collin Morikawa -2
- T18 Erik van Rooyen -2
- T18 Nick Taylor -2
- T18 Harris English -2
- T18 Russell Henley -2
- T18 Jordan Spieth -2
- T28 Will Zalatoris -1
- T28 Austin Eckroat -1
- T28 Brian Harman -1
- T28 Akshay Bhatia -1
- T28 Sungjae Im -1
- T28 Jhonattan Vegas -1
- T28 Patrick Rodgers -1
- T28 Keegan Bradley -1
- T28 Max Homa -1
- T28 J.T. Poston -1
- T28 Corey Conners -1
- T28 Aaron Rai -1
- T28 Tony Finau -1
- T28 Byeong Hun An -1
- T28 Victor Perez -1
- T43 Jake Knapp E
- T43 Mackenzie Hughes E
- T43 Cam Davis E
- T43 Si Woo Kim E
- T43 Stephan Jaeger E
- T43 Shane Lowry E
- T43 Min Woo Lee E
- T43 Viktor Hovland E
- T43 Adam Scott E
- T43 Matt Fitzpatrick E
- T43 Tom Hoge E
- T43 Christiaan Bezuidenhout E
- T43 Sahith Theegala E
- T43 Maverick McNealy E
- T43 Emiliano Grillo E