Clark would start with the first title defense at Wells Fargo

Wyndham Clark © Getty Images

The last time Wyndham Clark was in the field for the Wells Fargo Championship, he didn’t have a single PGA Tour win to his name.

What a difference a year can make.

Clark will prepare for this year’s edition as defending champion for the first time ever. After clinching the Wells Fargo title in 2023, he added two more wins to his tally, prevailing at the US Open last June before winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am just three months ago.

In seven events since Pebble Beach, Clark has missed the cut twice, but he also came away with three top-five finishes. He placed second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 10 and was second at The Players Championship a week later.

Clark recently finished T3 at the RBC Heritage, and he has been able to find the silver lining when it comes to finishing right behind the leader.

“I just think the more I put myself in contention, the better I become, even if I don’t win. So when I came up short recently at Bay Hill and at The Players, I learned a lot,” Clark said. “I mean, even though I had won three times prior to those two second-place finishes, I was still learning. I just think the more I put myself in that situation, the better I will become and learn.

“And when you put yourself in those positions, you want to be in those positions more. So that’s really what I look forward to every week when we close it out on Thursday.”

Although another of his titles will be on the line at the US Open in just over a month, Clark insists he is in no way overlooking the Wells Fargo Championship.

“This is one of my favorite Tour events, one of my favorite golf courses,” Clark said of the Wells Fargo, which is held at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC. “If there’s one thing I’m excited about this year, it’s I’m very focused on this week.

“It’s fun, it’s my first chance to defend. I don’t know what that’s like so it was exciting. I hope I can go out there and have a great week and play my best and maybe defend it .Yes, no, I’m focusing on this week.”

Clark shot a 19-under 265 at Quail Hollow last year, the lowest 72-hole score in Wells Fargo history. He defeated Xander Schauffele by four strokes.