Wyndham Clark Remodeling Reputation at 2026 U.S. Open

Typically when players are memorialized by a single shot, it's for a moment of greatness or devastation. For Wyndham Clark, who sits at 7 under and leads through two rounds of the 2026 U.S. Open, the shot people think about the most is a big cut off the tee that found the right side of the fairway on the 72nd hole at the 2023 U.S. Open.

The shot was neither great nor offensive, but somehow it became the scapegoat for golf fans who desperately wanted Rory McIlroy to win his first major in nearly a decade at Los Angeles C.C. To those fans, the "wipey fade" — which produced nearly 190 mph of ball speed — represented all that was wrong with LACC's setup. That drive, not the birdies he made or his excellent scrambling around the greens, is all that allowed a player like Clark to topple McIlroy.

It’s actually easy to reframe this narrative. Clark, who was an elite amateur talent and the top-ranked collegiate golfer, struggled out of the gates of his professional career but put it all together in 2023. With immense power, a strong short game, and a hot putter, he finally played up to his potential to beat McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Rickie Fowler to win the U.S. Open. On the 72nd hole, he went to his bread-and-butter fade off the tee and found the most important fairway of his life.

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That's the thing about narratives: they're easy to manipulate into what you see fit.

It's been interesting to track Clark's career. He was one of the first-ever guests on the Fried Egg Golf podcast, back when he had just turned professional in 2017, so I've always had an interest in him. He's a mercurial player, one who has done many polarizing things on and off the golf course. From busting a locker at last year's U.S. Open at Oakmont to openly flirting with an offer from LIV, Clark has done a lot of things that make people feel certain ways about him. His golf has often mirrored his off-course life: ups and downs, struggling early in his career, breaking out in 2023, slumping in 2025, and now back at the top of the game. Lately, I’ve found myself drawn to what Clark represents as a human, imperfect like all of us, trying to make his way through life.

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Everyone has moments where they aren't their best and do things they regret. Clark should have handled the Oakmont incident better, and still hasn't really handled it well. But plenty of us have moments in life we’d like back, that we’ve botched and can’t seem to fix. Whether or not you believe Clark’s sincerity, he’s clearly trying.

“I've gotten a lot of grief since last year, rightfully so,” Clark said Friday. “The thing that's unfortunate is that's not who I am, what happened last year. I'm hoping I can win back the fans that I had or some new fans because it was a terrible incident. I really feel like I can show people that I'm fun and outgoing, I'm fierce, competitive, love the game, respect the game, and I just had a bad moment. Hopefully I can win those people back.”

Wyndham is polarizing, but he's a player who deserves to be remembered for more than a hard cut on the 72nd hole that some golf fans think should have been punished. Shinnecock represents an opportunity to elevate his career to a new pantheon: multi-major champion, a title that can't be boiled down to one lucky shot.