A relative rookie on the PGA tour, 25-year-old Wyndham Clark has taken the golf world by storm on the back of his extremely strong play in the 2019 Honda Classic. Heading into the final day sitting atop the leaderboard, Clark is seven shots under par and has a one-stroke lead over Vijay Singh, Kieth Mitchell, and Kyoung-hoon Lee. Clark came out of the gates shooting a very respectable round of 69 on Thursday on day one. He followed up his strong opening round with back to back days shooting a 67 to secure his lead atop the Honda Classic leaderboard heading into the final day.
Known for his extremely long drives, Clark ranks ninth on the PGA tour this week for his average drive distance of 312.6 yards.
However, Clark has flashed some greatly improved touch at the Honda Classic and seems to have great control of his irons while consistently draining his putts. Still young and inexperienced, Clark plays with a level of maturity well beyond his years.
If Clark can finish up strong and bring home the Honda Classic championship, he will find himself skyrocketing up the FedEx Cup rankings, where he currently sits in 116th place. One of the top college golfers in the nation during his time at Oklahoma State and Oregon, many expected that Clark would one day make an impact on golf’s highest level. However, few expected he would be generating such large waves so soon.
Wyndham Clark Career Earnings
Wyndham Clark has played in 18 total PGA events since his debut in 2017, making the cut in 10 of them. With 10 events under his belt in 2019, this year marks the most active in his young career. Clark’s total career earnings are $338,632, with $252,898 of that coming this year alone. Should Clark bring home the title at the 2019 Honda Classic, he will net himself a hefty sum of $1,224,000, just under four times his career earnings over three years.
Wyndham Clark College Career
Wyndham Clark started off his collegiate career at Oklahoma State where he became friends with Rickie Fowler. Tragically, Clark’s mother passed away after a battle with breast cancer during his freshman year and he took time away from the team, only playing in two events.
Clark struggled to find joy in the game following her passing, telling PGAtour.com:
“It just wasn’t as much of a priority for me after she passed,” he said. “It got to where it was really hard and just not enjoyable. But I know that she wouldn’t want me to do that. … She’s really helped me get through a lot of tough things since she’s passed. I want to honor her and honor what she wanted me to do and try to make her proud.”
Granted a medical hardship waiver by the NCAA and able to reclaim his lost year of eligibility, Clark would go on to be named the Big 12 Player of the Year and second-team All-American in the following season. Clark would hit some road bumps over the next two years and transferred to Oregon for his last year of eligibility.
At Oregon, Clark would have a renaissance year winning the 2017 Pac-12 player of the year award en route to winning the Pac-12 championship.
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Wyndham Clark Career Earnings: How Much Money Has PGA Tour Pro Won?