Wyndham Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, is never afraid to express his opinion.
Whether it be his exuberant self-confidence—he once proclaimed himself a better player than Rory McIlroy—or his declaration that the greens at Pinehurst No. 2 were “borderline” unplayable ahead of this year’s U.S. Open, Clark does not shy away from revealing his true beliefs. Love him or loathe him, one must marvel at this actuality. He’s blunt, gets to the point, and does not shy away from questions.
That includes queries about LIV Golf, too. This past February, Clark admitted that he almost joined the Saudi-backed circuit last winter.
“I definitely met with LIV and went through those discussions. I wanted to see what they could bring to the table,” Clark said after winning the rain-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“I ultimately declined to go to LIV because I felt like I still had a lot of things left in the tank on the PGA Tour. I want to chase records; I want to chase world ranking. My dream is to try to be one of the top players in the world, if not the top player. I just grew up always imagining winning PGA Tour events.”
“Ultimately, I chose my legacy over LIV.”
Fast-forward eight months, and the ‘No Laying Up’ podcast—one of the best in golf media—invited Clark to appear on its show. Host Chris Solomon asked Clark about numerous topics, but towards the end of the episode, the subject of LIV Golf unsurprisingly arose.
The sport remains splintered, but many players—on both sides—long for the pro game to rekindle and end its current schism. Clark is among those who feel that way.
Hence, Clark explained how LIV Golf stars could return to the PGA Tour.
“I think it depends on who it is,” Clark said.
“Guys that have had careers where they should be lifelong PGA Tour players, I think they deserve the right to be able to come play on the PGA Tour. I think guys that maybe left and didn’t have that pedigree and career—I don’t know—I think those are the guys that I’d struggle with because they made their decision, right? So they chose to go play there, take the money, and I think that’s what a lot of us wrestle with.”
So, who are those individuals who should be lifelong PGA Tour players?
“If Dustin Johnson wants to come back, Phil Mickelson, and Brooks [Koepka], and guys who have won majors, they deserve to play wherever the hell they want because they’re so good,” Clark added.
“But there are these other guys I struggle with because then we look at it going, man, a lot of us had a chance to take the money. And if we 100% knew we could take the money and come back, then we all would have done that because we all would have been way richer.”
Numerous stars, such as the aforementioned Johnson, Mickelson, Koepka, as well as Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, and Jon Rahm, received a pretty penny from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) to join LIV Golf. The PIF reportedly gave Rahm more than $400 million.
Yet, these players remain barred from playing in PGA Tour events.
“I just hope that we have all the best players playing together and that it works out to where it’s mutually beneficial for everyone involved,” Clark said.
“It’s a tough question, but at the end of the day, I really try to just concern myself with what I can control. If I’m playing my best golf, regardless of what happens, I’m going to have a place to play.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
