The rough beginning of Wyndham Clark at the Olympics was met with disapproval among Golf Twitter.
On Thursday, Wyndham Clark faced a challenging beginning to his aspiration of representing his nation at the Olympics. Unfortunately, matters were compounded by him being an advocate for Golf Twitter.
During major events such as Scottie Scheffler’s arrest at the PGA Championship, our cherished online community can provide great enjoyment. However, it has also been known to transform into a harsh environment that criticizes players who are underperforming – all in haste.
Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, secured his place on Team USA through the Official World Golf Ranking. However, some deemed Bryson DeChambeau more deserving of a spot in Paris for being crowned as the 2024 U.S. Open winner and showing strong performance lately. This view is supported by Clark’s rocky start at Le Golf National where he struggled to hit accurate tee shots during his first three holes causing difficulty in making their case against him.
Oh dear. Rory McIlroy hinted earlier in the week that struggling in Paris as an American is not unusual, and unfortunately Clark proved him right with his initial score of 75 leaving him 12 shots behind Hideki Matsuyama who set a high standard on this day filled with low scores. However, he managed to regroup and shot even par for the remainder of the game which is commendable. Compared to other players, only two scored worse than Clark among all sixty participants while amongst his fellow compatriots he fell five strokes short from their best performance earning himself some criticism on Golf Twitter yet again!
Indeed, there was an abundance of support for Bryson on that platform.
“Ouch. Although Wyndham didn’t set the qualification standards, he rightfully earned his place here. It’s just a shame that Clark isn’t arriving in better shape. During the four major events held in 2024, Clark placed T-56 during his defense of the U.S Open and couldn’t make it past the cut for all three remaining tournaments – finishing with scores as low as 78 and 80 at The Open Championship a few weeks back.”
Although Wyndham has three more rounds to complete in Paris, the outlook appears discouraging. Nevertheless, Clark can relish his inaugural Olympic encounter regardless of this fact. He ought to refrain from using Twitter while being situated in Paris though.
