by Wyndham Clark has admitted he wasn’t prepared for 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy after deciding not to play club for two weeks after a busy season.
But the golfer also suggested that Zach Johnson’s leadership for Team USA could have been significantly improved.
Clark addressed the topic in an explosive interview with No hanging up Podcast.
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It was clear that Clark felt that Jim Furyk’s leadership at the 2024 Presidents Cup was an improvement over what he experienced in Rome last September as one of Johnson’s rookies.
Especially with regard to transparency.
Clark said he knew weeks in advance that he would be playing alongside Keegan Bradley and Tony Finau in the Presidents Cup.
That wasn’t the case last September, he said.
Clark said: “Honestly, one of the biggest shocks when I played for the team in Rome was that… I didn’t really know who I was playing with.”
“I didn’t really know the situation, so I was just out on the range and someone came up to me [to me] and say, “Okay, Wyndham, so you go.” [to be playing with] so and so.’
“I thought, okay, well, I haven’t really played a practice round with him. So it was just disjointed.”
He added: “This [the Presidents Cup] was great. I’ll give you an example, the Saturday we had the 36-hole day at the Presidents Cup, he [Furyk] told me, ‘Okay, Wyndham, I’ll take you and Keegan out tomorrow morning and leave you sitting in the afternoon, are you okay with that?'”
Clark said this type of information was “clearly” not shared in previous Cups.
“It’s just crazy to me,” he said.
“[The benefits are] You can just prepare yourself mentally.
“You can say, ‘Okay, I just need to get ready for the morning, it’s the best ball, so I’m going to make sure I play my best game, go out and win, and I’m going to think about birdies.’
“Or, if it was an alternate shot, you start imagining, ‘Hey, I know I’m just playing an alternate shot, so I’m imagining my tee shots, the putts I’m going to make, or the iron shots, that I will do.” will have in it.
Wyndham Clark
He added: “I mean, it sounds like a no-brainer, but this year we finally did it.”
“So it’s no surprise that I think we’ve had so much success because we have the best squad and we’re some of the best players in the world.”
“They just need to set us up for success, and I feel like they’re doing that now.”
Clark said he has had extensive conversations with players like Brian Harman and Max Homa about what Team USA needs to do better in New York if it makes the team.
For his part, Johnson has admitted there were areas where he could have improved as captain.
He admitted his players would have benefited from not taking a six-week break at the end of the season after the Tour Championship.
Wyndham Clark
Luke Donald’s Dozen didn’t take that much time.
All 12 European players were in the field at the BMW PGA Championship.
There was also an extensive exploratory trip to Marco Simone.
Before the game, Clark claimed that the European team would likely “run out of oil” as the squad was most likely exhausted.
In the end, Europe emerged victorious by a margin of five points.
The 2025 Ryder Cup will be played September 26-28 at Bethpage Black.
