It’s official — the one thing Wyndham Clark said he wanted at this week’s PGA Championship didn’t happen.
Clark, you might recall, won the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago, claiming the $3.6 million winner’s check and finally registering the first PGA Tour victory of his career.
It had been a long wait for the 29-year-old pro, who didn’t win during his stint on the Korn Ferry Tour either. Clark’s victory at Quail Hollow Club — he beat Xander Schauffele by four and set the tournament’s 72-hole scoring record (265) — came in his 134th start on the PGA Tour.
Clark took last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson off, but he’s in the field for this week’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. He’s made one cut in his two previous PGA Championship appearances, which came in 2020 and 2021.
So, what exactly did he want at this week’s PGA? He told Subpar Podcast co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz on this week’s episode. The poor guy just wanted a press conference.
“I hope I have a press conference interview,” he said. “That’s just one thing I want, because I normally get to a major and ya know, you are on the table getting work done, and Rahm’s like, ‘Ugh, I gotta go do media work’ and all this stuff. And I’m like, ‘I want to do that.’ I want to bitch about media stuff. I don’t care who it is. Bring me in the room and ask one question and let me go so I did my media obligation.”
If you are wondering why Clark wants a press conference, it’s because it could be a sign that he’s “made it.” Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy — those guys are always on the pre-tournament press conference schedule. A handful of others get spots, too. Usually it’s for other big-name players — the Patrick Cantlays and Max Homas — or perhaps for a pro with a local tie or who is on a heater.
Usually the players brought in are decided by the tournament’s media relations team. Sometimes they’ll ask reporters for input. Other times they’ll add pros to the schedule if there’s enough media members asking for them. It’s also common to have the week’s previous winner get a formal press conference, too, but for this week that would be Jason Day, who won the Byron Nelson. Day got one.
As for Clark, who won two weeks ago? We have bad news to report. Fifteen players received press conferences on either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, and the Wells Fargo champ was not on the list.
If there’s any consolation — and there’s plenty — Clark still has that $3.6 million check he collected two weeks ago to be proud of. And that win also got him into this year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool and into the 2024 Masters, a tournament he’s never played. Plus, if he plays well enough at Oak Hill, he’s bound to be ushered in to meet the media eventually. Better late than never.
