{"id":4488,"date":"2026-06-20T13:36:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4488"},"modified":"2026-06-20T13:36:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:36:50","slug":"a-year-after-smashing-a-locker-wyndham-clark-finds-himself-leading-at-another-us-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4488","title":{"rendered":"A year after smashing a locker, Wyndham Clark finds himself leading at another US Open"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Wyndham Clark reacts after missing a putt on the 13th hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. \u2014 The smashed-up locker<\/a> at Oakmont last year is as much a part of Wyndham Clark\u2019s resume as the U.S. Open<\/a> title he won two years before that.<\/p>

Read more Mitchell steadies New Zealand as the lead swells to 445 against England at The Oval<\/a><\/p>\n

Such is life in a world teeming with cell phone cameras and viral video. Such is life in professional golf, a sport built on managing failure and harnessing emotions \u2014 and where success one week, or one year, doesn\u2019t always carry over to the next.<\/p>\n

Clark\u2019s spot at the top of the U.S. Open leaderboard after his second round at Shinnecock on Friday brought up expected reminders of his emotion-filled journey through a sport \u2014 a life, really \u2014 that Clark himself acknowledged nobody truly ever masters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on top of the world in my game, at least when I won the U.S. Open, and then had some good years,\u201d the 32-year-old said. \u201cThen, next thing you know, I\u2019m apologizing for breaking a locker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much as tennis great John McEnroe will always have \u201cYou cannot be serious!\u201d<\/a> alongside the seven grand slam singles titles he won in another of sports\u2019 biggest pressure cookers, Clark will always have the broken locker at Oakmont. He will always have the underhanded fling of the driver<\/a> that smashed an advertising board and snapped off the clubhead at the PGA Championship, a few months before the locker debacle.<\/p>\n

Because of that, he\u2019ll probably also always have his share of detractors and critics \u2014 people watching for his next burst of brilliance on the golf course, but also waiting for the next big blowup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fierce, competitive, love the game, respect the game, and I just had a bad moment,\u201d Clark said. \u201cHopefully, I can win those people back.\u201d<\/p>\n

His breakthrough three years ago<\/a> at LA Country Club was tinged with tears and stories of the personal growth Clark had to make to reach that point.<\/p>\n

Much of it had to do with the emotional residue left from his mom\u2019s death in 2013 \u2014 a family tragedy that he conceded had left him spiraling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t show any emotion off the course,\u201d Clark explained after his victory that day. \u201cBut when I was on the golf course, I couldn\u2019t have been angrier.\u201d<\/p>\n

The easy way for the armchair psychologists (and sports pundits) to explain things after that win was to conclude that Clark\u2019s victory proved he had harnessed the emotion, turned the page and beaten back all the demons.<\/p>

Read more The U.S. won its World Cup group with a game to spare. What now?<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s never that simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor any of us, this is a process,\u201d Clark\u2019s sports psychologist, Julie Elion, wrote in her new book \u2019Mastering Your Mental Game.\u201d \u201cGolfers don\u2019t reach the top and then stay there forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark followed the U.S. Open win with 18 months of good golf, including a win at Pebble Beach. Last year was something different \u2014 he only had two top-10 finishes, did not make the FedEx Cup playoffs and was nowhere to be seen at the Ryder Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cMastering our mental game in golf or reaching a state of growth or self-improvement in life isn\u2019t always a permanent condition,\u201d Elion wrote. \u201cIt takes more work over more years, and there are frequently hills and valleys.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Shinnecock, where Clark will head into the weekend at 7-under par, four shots ahead of Xander Schauffele and three others, he finds himself back on the rise again. He recently took to social media to tell the world he had a new girlfriend, Emily Tanner, who held hands with him as they exited the 18th green after Friday\u2019s round of 1-under 69.<\/p>\n

Four weeks ago, Clark won the Byron Nelson for his first victory in 28 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of looked at it objectively and took a bird\u2019s-eye view on it and said, \u2018OK, I\u2019m not hitting it good off the tee, I\u2019m not putting as good as I was,\u2019\u201d he explained about his turnaround. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018All right, I\u2019ve got to attack that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He hired a swing coach, Pat Coyner at Cherry Hills, near where Clark grew up outside of Denver.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been hitting his driver straighter of late. His iron game has improved dramatically (up 110 spots in the analytic-driven stat: strokes gained on approach shots). He found a new putter, which has helped him dial in dramatically over the past four weeks, during which he also finished third at the Memorial and played in the final group last Sunday at the Canadian Open.<\/p>\n

Never more did it look in sync than Friday on No. 18, where he sank a 35-footer to finish the day in red numbers.<\/p>\n

Now, a chance for another breakthrough. With a win, he would celebrate again. But he knows as well as anyone that it wouldn\u2019t mean the work \u2014 both on and off the course \u2014 is behind him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think with the mental game there\u2019s ebbs and flows,\u201d Clark said. \u201cIf you think of it as climbing Everest, sometimes you go up, sometimes you have to go down to go back up. I think that\u2019s kind of what happens both on the golf course and off the golf course. Right now I\u2019m trending back up, which is nice.\u201d<\/p>

Read more The Nationals\u2019 barista keeps the coffee flowing \u2014 and the clubhouse humming<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP golf: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/golf<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The smashed-up locker at Oakmont last year is as much a part of Wyndham Clark\u2019s resume as the U.S. Open title he won two years before that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nA year after smashing a locker, Wyndham Clark finds himself leading at another US Open - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4488\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A year after smashing a locker, Wyndham Clark finds himself leading at another US Open - 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