Talking Golf With the Golf Guy Season Eight -Episode Ten With the 2023 United States Open Champion Wyndham Clark
in Archives, Blog, Open Championship, Podcasts, US Open by Jeff Waters

Talking Golf With the Golf Guy Season Eight -Episode Ten With the 2023 United States Open Champion Wyndham Clark

The United States Open Golf Championship returned to Southern California and the Los Angeles Country Club after a seventy-five-year hiatus to robust criticism from players and fans alike.

Small galleries, lack of grandstands, forced carries, blind tee shots, and severely sloped fairways that ran off into gnarly fescue-protected island greens and rough marred the USGA’s return to the storied Hollywood Hills venue, which many said lacked the historical US Open demanding, rigorous and arduous standards.

A long-held USGA mantra that level-par is the target score for Open Contestants fell by the wayside as record rounds of 62 were posted twice on the first day by Ricky Fowler and Xander Schauffele, followed by a 63 on Sunday by Tommy Fleetwood, tying Johnny Miller’s final round 63 when he won at Oakmont in 1973.

Two record-tying nine-hole rounds of 29 were posted by Tom Kim on Saturday and Austin Eckroat on Sunday.

At the same time, Ricky Fowler needed just 62 holes to record 22 birdies, tying another US Open scoring record as even par, a worthy goal and noble objective for the best players in the world, metaphorically plunged and nose-dived into the surf off the nearby Santa Monica pier.

In the end, it was Wyndham Clark, age 29, playing in only his seventh Major Championship and just his third US Open, after missing the cut in the first two, with rounds of 64, 67, 69, and 70, finishing at ten-under par 270, claiming his second win on tour and first major while holding off the first and third-ranked players in the world in Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.

McIlroy, trying desperately to end his nine-year slump without a Major after winning four early in his career, finished second by one shot more than Scheffler, who claimed third.

Ricky Fowler, searching for his first Major Championship, began the day tied for the lead but struggled home with a 75, finishing in a three-way tie for fifth at five under par, joining Fleetwood and Min Woo Lee.

With this win, Wyndham Clark pockets $3.6 million, the largest purse in Open history.

Along with possession of The US Open Trophy for one year, exemptions into the next 10 US Open Championships, invitations in the following 5 Masters, exemptions into the following 5 PGA Championships, exemptions into the following 5 Open Championships conducted by The R&A, exemptions into the following 5 Players Championships, exempt status on the PGA Tour for the next five years, and his name enshrined in the USGA Museums’ Hall of Champions, along with possession of the newly minted Jack Nicklaus Medal symbolizing the reigning United States Open Champion.

Clark also moved to No. 13 in the Official World Golf Ranking, No. 6 in the Sports Illustrated World Golf Rankings, and No. 2 in the United States Ryder Cup standings.

Clark, highly recruited in high school, began his collegiate experience at powerhouse Oklahoma State, but personal tragedy curtailed his playing career when his mother died of breast cancer at 55.

Beset with grief, he dropped out of school and contemplated quitting competitive golf.

Seeking new beginnings, he transferred to Oregon State, where under coach Casey Martin, he excelled, winning the Pac-Twelve Conference Championship in his home state of Colorado and being named Golf Week’s 2016 Player of the Year.

The son of a former collegiate and professional tennis player Randal, and a supportive mother, Lise, who always encouraged him to “Play Big.”  in every golf tournament, Wyndham Clark did just that on Father’s Day 2023.

“I feel like I belong on this stage and can play and compete against the best players in the world Wyndham replied at the trophy presentation, and my mother was watching over me.”

Heeding his mother’s admonishment that he was always “a winner.” Wyndham Clark is now the biggest winner on golf’s grandest stage.

I had the chance to attend the Wyndham Clark Championship Press conference Sunday evening.

You may listen to that interview here.

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With over a half-century of engagement in the sport of Golf, Jeff Waters has become one of the most accomplished, experienced, and qualified Golf Professionals in the history of the PGA of America. He is a fully certified and trained Master Professional joining an exceedingly small and elite group of Professionals in the World to have achieved this prestigious title. Jeff holds University Degrees in Political Science, Teaching Minors in Economics and Finance, attended graduate school in Commercial Recreation, taught undergraduate classes at the University of Utah, and earned a master’s in business administration. With more than fifty years of experience and success in the business of Golf, Jeff spent ten years playing and competing in the game at all levels ten years laboring as an Assistant Golf Professional, acquiring the job-related skills, responsibilities, and training required for a career in golf, ten years fulfillment as a PGA Head Professional overseeing all aspects of the total golf course operation, three years’ service as Director of Player Development for Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, administering and managing multiple golf course programs and activities, thirty-three years as a Golf Coach and Instructor at The Rocky Mountain Golf Academy, The University of Utah’s College of Health and the Granite Peaks Community College, teaching and tutoring the game. Additionally, Jeff has spent the last twenty-seven years as the Owner, President, and CEO of Rocky Mountain Golf Enterprises (RMG), a Utah-registered and licensed business offering golf-related services throughout the Western United States utilizing golf as the marketing tool. Finally, Jeff has performed on the national media stage for the past thirty-eight years as an Announcer, Author, Producer, and Talk Radio Host, communicating and sharing the joy, art, and skill that is the Game, Sport, and Challenge of Golf. Jeff, a well-known golf journalist, has been active in print media from an early age. His articles, commentary, and features regularly appear nationwide. He has authored two golf instruction books: “The Ten Commandments of Golf, Proven Principles That Make Your Golf Game Better,” and “The Short Game, the Transition from the Golf Course to the Putting Green.” Both are available as e-book downloads and on Amazon. Jeff penned his first short story while still in his teens and has since published 100’s of commentaries, essays, and instruction pieces in magazines, blogs, internet forums, and other platforms, including Golf Today, Utah Golf Magazine, Utah Golf News, Rocky Mountain Golfer, Fairways Magazine, Jackson Hole Golf News, Talking Golf with the Golf Guy, Voices in the Community.com, and Jeffgolfguy.com. He is the author of multiple books, stories, articles, posts, and evaluations of other writers’ publications. Jeff began his public communications career in High School and has had a constant presence in sports commentary throughout the years, providing play-by-play and color analysis at many diverse levels, including announcing football, baseball, and basketball games, along with local and national golf tournaments, while performing on other media platforms as well. Jeff was an early pioneer in Sports Radio, hosting a weekly talk show, “Talking Golf with the Golf Guy,” broadcasted and aired on various radio stations throughout the regional market, syndicated nationally on The Rocky Mountain Golf Network, and offered on most of the recognized podcast directories and streaming services. Over his extensive announcing career, Jeff has provided the vocal narration for hundreds of voice-overs, commercials, radio programming, sports interviews, tournament updates, blogs, podcasts, audiobooks, and videos, including the original voice work on the best-selling X-Box Links golf game. Jeff also contributed voice and commentary on the Centennial production, “One Hundred Years of the Utah State Amateur,” which is available on iTunes and Apple Music. As a member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Jeff has attended and reported on-site more than a hundred golf tournaments, including an assortment of Major Golf Championships, including The United States Open Championship, The Masters, the PGA Championship, and The Ryder Cup, along with other competitions on the PGA Tours annual tournament schedule. Jeff has produced, directed, and distributed numerous film and video projects as stand-alone presentations while incorporating them within his blog, website, syndicated podcasts, and national radio programming. All are available for review on YouTube. Known as “The Voice of Golf” and “The Golf Guy” throughout the Western United States, Jeff is regularly sought for advice and counsel and often speaks to groups on golf-related subjects. You may contact Jeff by email at jeffgolfguy@att.net and on his website at www.jeffgolfguy.com.