Wyndham Clark details the ‘weird’ fan practice that put him off at the Ryder Cup
Wyndham Clark was one of the US Ryder Cup warriors at Rome 2023. He won a four-ball match on Saturday and tied in one on Friday. But after the singles, the USA lost the Ryder Cup to Europe with a score of 11.5-16.5.
Clark’s next patriotic appearance will be at the 2024 Presidents Cup and he'll play in the 12-golfer squad led by Jim Furyk.
Before the tournament tees off, Clark joined a SiriusXM PGA Tour podcast and shared what he learned from Rome that would help him at the Presidents Cup. He explained how the Roman fans didn't cheer for the US team that much, even at their good shots, which was a turn-off for them.
“It's a totally different atmosphere. It was my first ever experience being part of Team USA at such a high level, and it's definitely weird when people aren't really cheering for your good shots and we're used to hitting nice shots and everyone clapping and wanting you to do well and you're there and they really aren't doing that, so that's obviously different,” Wyndham Clark said.
“You hit a great shot in there and no one claps and then their guy hits maybe an average shot and everyone erupts and they're going nuts and you're like, oh, maybe I didn't hit a good shot. And you get up there and you're actually closer than him.”
Clark added:
"I also feel like we have a chip on our shoulder and we're pissed off from last year. And I think we're implementing a lot of different things. Hopefully doing some adjustments to make sure that we keep, Team USA winning at these Presidents cup and then build hopefully a lot of momentum for the Ryder cup.”
The Presidents Cup is scheduled from September 24 to 29.
Besides Wyndham Clark, which golfers will play on the Presidents Cup US team?
In the 12-member squad of the US Presidents Cup team, there are six automatic qualifiers: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, and Sahith Theegala.
The six captain's picks of the US team, picked by Jim Furyk, are Max Homa, Sam Burns, Keegan Bradley, Tony Finau, Brian Harman, and Russell Henley.
The International team's 12-golfer squad includes six automatic qualifiers: Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Jason Day, Adam Scott, and Byeong Hun An. The six golfers picked by captain Mike Weir are Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee, and Taylor Pendrith.