Wyndham Clark reveals why he got a sports psychologist on Netflix’s Full Swing – “I have someone able to get me in the direction I want”

Wyndham Clark famously hired a sports psychologist last year and turned his career around. The 30-year-old golfer was struggling to get his act together at the start of last season. However, he found his form and won his first Major, the 2023 U.S. Open, in June. Now, the golfer has revealed that he got the psychologist due to pressure from his team.

Clark featurs in Netflix’s Full Swing Season 2 episode named ‘Mind Game.’ Speaking on the show, Clark revealed that he was in shambles after his mother passed away. Things got to a point where he almost lost his Tour card. He revealed that his caddie John Ellis and others urged him to visit a sports psychologist.

According to Clark, his teammates even warned him about losing more if he didn’t follow the instructions. The 3X PGA Tour winner claimed that he now has ‘someone that can get him in the direction he wants to be.’

Wyndham Clark said in Full Swing Season 2’s Episode 3:

"A lot of people on my team were like, 'we're pretty much telling you to see a sports psychologist. Otherwise, we're done'… I started working with Julie (his sport psychologist) in December. Now I have something and someone that is able to get me in the direction I want to be.”

Clark stated that losing his mother was a tipping point in his life.

He added:

“My mom was always the nurturing one that was always there to pick me up in more of a positive way and always made me feel better. And she cared so much about what we were going to do in our life. When she did pass, I kind of lost that. A lot of things fell out beneath me, and my college life changed a lot.

"I was numb. Anger that she wasn't there. And that's when some people that were close to my mom and close to me reached out, and then they said, 'hey I also think you need to see a therapist'.”

Clark further noted that he couldn’t get the results he wanted before. He claimed that he is now able to ‘stay in the process’ and ‘succeed.’

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Wyndham Clark on working with mental coach Julie Elion

Back in June, Wyndham Clark gave fans a glimpse of how his mental coach Julie Elion had been working wonders. Speaking in a press conference following his U.S. Open win, the golfer stated that Elion had already prepared for various mental factors that he faced on the field.

Interestingly, the PGA Tour star revealed that the psychologist even prepared him for crowd chanting in support of his playing partner Rickie Fowler. Notably, Fowler, who went to OSU, was one of Clark’s idols growing up.

Moreover, he was also a fan favorite with fans at Los Angeles Country Club. Having understood that the crowd would be cheering for Fowler on instead of him, Clark prepared himself for it.

Speaking to the media at LACC, Wyndham Clark said:

“My mental coach, Julie, told me, she goes, ‘Every time you hear someone chant ‘Rickie,’ think of your goals and get cocky and go show them who you are. I did that. It was like 100-plus times today I reminded myself of the goals… Now maybe they'll be chanting my name in the future.”

It is pertinent to note that Julie Elion isn’t a new name to golf fans. The renowned mental coach has worked with the likes of Phil Mickelson, Jimmy Walker and Greg Norman before joining Wyndham Clark’s team.