“He was like a second father to my son”: Wyndham Clark’s father thankful for OSU coach Mike McGraw

Wyndham Clark has been involved in golf for most of his life. However, a career that has led him to win the 2023 U.S. Open may have ended before it began. One man was crucial in making sure that didn't happen: Mike McGraw.

This is not a random event. So much was McGraw's influence on Wyndham Clark's life that the golfer's father, Randall Clark, considers him his "second father."

But who is Mike McGraw and what role did he play in Wyndham Clark's life?

McGraw was the head coach of the Oklahoma State University men's golf team when Wyndham Clark was recruited to play with them. It was the 2012-13 season, which would end up being very painful for the freshman player.

Shortly before joining the university, Wyndham Clark learned that his mother was facing a dangerous cancer. Given his close relationship with his mother, this deeply affected the player's emotional stability.

“I’ll never be able to repay him, because he was like a second father to my son,” Clark senior said, acording to The Oklahoman.

Mike McGraw is the current head coach of the Baylor University's golf team (Image via Twitter @BaylorMGolf).

He presented episodes of anger and lack of control in the only two tournaments in which he participated in the season. Once he was alerted by another coach, Mike McGraw decided that a different and personalized approach should be taken with Clark. This probably decided the fate of the current US Open champion.

McGraw recommended that Clark remove himself from all competition to get away from the pressure. He also recommended that he should seek help in dealing with his grief. However, the coach didn't want the player to give up golf.

According to the coach himself, three times he convinced Wyndham to return to training when he had already packed up his belongings. He did so because, as he put it, Clark was "too good".

McGraw's method began to pay off. Even without competing, Clark began to regain the quality of his game and became more emotionally stable.

But at the end of the season, two events again put Clark's athletic career in extreme jeopardy. Clark lost his mother, and coach Mike McGraw was fired.

Wyndham Clark's second career rescue

Wyndham Clark was entered for the US Amateur Championship, which was played two weeks after his mother's death. There, he finished T9, but was not his old self.

Coach McGraw with Baylor's team (Image via Twitter @BaylorMGolf).

For his second season with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, he no longer had coach McGraw. He had been fired despite the team's decent results the previous season. A new coach had to take over a team that was much more affected than the previous season.

However, Mike McGraw did not let the boy go. In consultation with the new head coach, the now former coach continued to stay on top of Wyndham Clark. He helped him through what McGraw himself described as the "dark times" the player was going through.

The following months and years were not easy for Clark. His third and fourth years at Oklahoma State University saw him drop out of the first team. It took a lot of help and a transfer to the University of Oregon to get him back to his best.

Eventually, he became a professional, joined the PGA Tour, and won his first tournament and his first major. But among all the people who helped him, Mike McGraw will always stand out as his coach. McGraw was the one who, at the hardest time, kept him from quitting the sport in which he is now a US Open champion.