Wyndham Clark Talks Full Swing and his Masters Debut | Exclusive Interview

Few golfers have had as interesting of a past 12 months as Wyndham Clark. The former Pac-12 Golfer of the Year had struggled to find success in his first handful of years on the PGA Tour until everything clicked in 2023.

He got his first professional win at the Wells Fargo Championship last May and then followed it up with a shocking win at the U.S. Open in June. His success continued into the 2024 season, winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after shooting a course record 60 on Saturday.

The light was shed on what caused the sudden surge of success in Season 2 of Netflix's Full Swing, which was released earlier this month. Clark was featured in Episode 2 and we got an inside look at how an improvement to the mental side of his game has helped him reach his potential.

I got the chance to talk to Clark last week, fresh off a second-place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Despite the wide spread praise for his episode of Full Swing, he has yet to watch it himself.

"Everyone gives me a hard time that I haven't watched it but it's honestly because first off I lived it so that's one thing and the second is watching myself on camera is always uncomfortable and listening to myself so I always just kind of get that cringe feeling so I decided I wasn't going to watch it," Clark said. "All my friends have and maybe one day I'll look back and watch it."

The episode highlighted how much getting a sports psychologist helped his game and elevated his play to the next level, but I was curious if it was as impactful as the show made it out to be or if there were changes to his swing that played a role as well.

"I would say it's a big part," Clark said. "I have been blessed and kind of always had kind of the physical components to the game and I just was lacking, I think, some of that mental strength to be able to handle adversity, handle the nerves, handle winning, success, all that stuff. So, it is a huge part."

He went on to say that he did make some other changes that weren't shown in the Netflix episode, including owning his swing.

"With that said, I did make some changes simultaneously with adding a mental coach of not having a swing coach and owning my own golf swing," Clark said. "I think those two things together basically groomed me to start playing great golf and next thing you know I started winning tournaments."

I was curious how it felt for him to play through a round of golf on Tour now that he has the mental tools he was missing before.

"Honestly where I feel some of the biggest stuff is the more tournaments I play, the more comfortable I feel on the golf course to where it almost feels like a round with my buddies back home and I'm not as nervous, I'm more comfortable, I'm able to hit the shots that maybe I see in practice but two years I was scared to pull off because I didn't think I could do it," Clark said. "I just find myself in between shots or post shots, pre-shots, whatever, where any of those negative thoughts come in I'm actually able to capture and catch those and replace them with something positive where before I'd let them run wild."

During episode 3, Clark is contrasted by Joel Dahmen, who was struggling during the 2023 season and was refusing to talk to a sports psychologist. I asked him if he had talked to Dahmen since the episode was released.

"I haven't," Clark said. "I haven't talked to him about it. I see Joel and we're friends and we talk and we enjoy hanging out and what not but we haven't talked about the specifics of the show. He hasn't me any questions about it and I haven't asked him any questions. I'm interested to see when that happens and I'd love to hear his thoughts on what he thought about the show.

Clark will be competing in The Masters for the first time in his career next month. He had recently played his first round at Augusta with his dad and brother so I had to ask him how that round went.

"One of the coolest [experiences]," he said. "We are all big golf fans, we grew up watching Tiger Woods, watching all the greats play Augusta and winning. It's one of the only courses I've ever been to where I knew every single hole and every single shot before I ever went and stepped on property.

"It was really cool father-son family bonding that we got to have for two days at one of the most amazing courses in the world. It was so special, I think we'll hold that close, my brother and I and my dad, I think that will be something we'll always cherish for the rest of our lives."

Be sure to check out the full interview above. I also asked the U.S. Open winner about his record-breaking round at Pebble Beach, how it felt to get his first win, which courses on the PGA Tour's schedule he feels fits his game the best, and his new partnership with Blade and Bow Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

Blade and Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is announcing “19th Hole with Blade and Bow,” a nationwide campaign providing golfers with bespoke tools and tips to ace their game, including expert techniques on the links and the perfect whiskey to refine their celebrations on the 19th hole.

As a professional golfer, it has become tradition for Wyndham to celebrate a round of golf with a round of cocktails at the 19th hole clubhouse. Blade and Bow’s role in the world of golf is to elevate that experience and honor its legacy.