2023 Travelers Championship: Top 10 Power Rankings
What a month it’s been for Wyndham Clark.
The former decorated amateur has steadily kept his PGA Tour card beginning with the 2018-19 season, but the former Oklahoma State Cowboy and Oregon Duck had yet to have a standout moment as a pro.
Not anymore.
Clark first broke through in May with a designated event win at the Wells Fargo Championship. He ran away with a four-shot win over Xander Schauffele and was seven shots clear of the rest of the field packed with top-25 players.
"“…it’s an elevated event with some of the best players in the world that are here. That’s a major championship golf course, and it demands a lot of the same things this does and a U.S. Open would demand, which is all parts of your game being on,” Clark was transcribed by ASAP Sports after round two of the U.S. Open. “For me, winning any tournament was big, and then that one in particular felt like a major. I just feel like I can compete with the best players in the world and I think of myself as one of them.”"
That was his sixth top-10 of the season at the time. Now he’s up to seven.
Clark’s first major championship came at age 29 last week at the U.S. Open. He drew confidence from his breakthrough win at a major championship-caliber course like Quail Hollow to get it done at an even tougher test in Los Angeles Country Club.
Clark showed nerves of steel, getting up and down from all over the place and showing excellent lag putting that helped him seal the deal on the 72nd hole.
It’s hard to say if this will propel him to lofty heights, or if he’ll be grouped with talented, but not elite recent one-time major winners like Jason Dufner, Jimmy Walker, Gary Woodland, etc.
He has been a daily fantasy darling for a while. For now, he’s a known name, at an apex of No. 13 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and he appears on his way to making his first American Ryder Cup team this fall.
Let’s hope Clark can enjoy the ride and continue to play well in his former mother’s honor.
At time of writing, he’s still in the field this week at the Travelers Championship. No one would begrudge him for bailing out, but why not try to ride out his hot form at an event with a huge purse?
This will be his fourth appearance at TPC River Highlands. Clark shook off missed cuts here in 2020 and 2021 to take T-35th (66-68-71-68) last year.
It will be a bit of a shift going from gaping wide fairways last week to more condensed targets this week. However, it will be a lot softer and he can pin his ears back attacking greens as long as water isn’t in play.
Clark is second on the PGA Tour with 320 birdies this season as well as second with 14 eagles. He’s top 50 in every strokes gained category.