“Scottie Scheffler is the bar”: Kobe Bryant superfan Wyndham Clark talks about his preparation ahead of 2024 Masters (Exclusive)

Wyndham Clark has seen a major uptick in popularity recently. He truly broke onto the scene with a major victory in 2023 as well as his first victory of any kind on the PGA Tour at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Clark has quickly become a household name and has shown off his talents numerous times this year, including at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he recorded an impressive four-stroke victory. The golfer has gone from being relatively unknown to a golfing superstar in no time, and with every outing, he is showing why.

Clark was kind enough to speak with Sportskeeda about his journey as a golfer, his upcoming appearances, and much more. Here's what the World No. 4 golfer had to say.

Excerpts from the interview with Wyndham Clark

Wyndham Clark was asked about whether or not he was concerned about his health moving into one of the biggest tournaments of the season and of his career in the Masters. He said:

“It’s nothing career [threatening]... it sucked it happened Monday of a tournament week. But the great thing was, I was able to play. As the tournament went on, it got better and better."

Having won a major in his career already, with his 2023 U.S. Open victory over Rory McIlroy, Clark revealed how it helps him take on other big tournaments. Despite the apparent connection, he admitted that any and all wins on the PGA Tour have taught him things that have helped him get other wins — including his major win last year.

Wyndham Clark after winning the 2023 US Open

Clark mentioned that he's been in a position to take home a win several times, and that it always teaches him something he can use in the future. Just being in a tight matchup down the stretch is a valuable learning experience in itself.

Therefore, despite the Masters carrying a prestige that the other majors might not in the eyes of the fans, Clark considers them all to be on the same level of difficulty. Hence, having played in them previously and taken home a trophy makes a difference.

He also said:

“I feel like I have a high golf IQ. Typically we only get to see a golf course a couple times before we tee it up. At the U.S. Open, I only saw it one time before the week. I played nine holes, then nine holes [of practice], and then went and won the tournament.”

Ahead of his debut Masters appearance, Clark told Sportskeeda that it was a dream come true. He admitted that he'd been dreaming of playing in this tournament since he was a kid and that he is thrilled it's becoming a reality.

As far as nerves go, there will be some. Clark revealed that he always has "first tee jitters", so his first swings at Augusta will be no different. Once he gets going, he is confident he won't be nervous anymore.

The golfer also added that he's been working on his short game recently, so look for his putting to be improved on the greens, of which he spoke about Augusta's unique challenges in putting.

Once the Masters and this season are in the rearview mirror, a new season will dawn — one that carries an interesting new challenge for Clark. The debut of TGL, helmed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, is slated for January 7, 2025.

When asked how he feels about the technological growth of the modern game of golf, Clark told Sportskeeda succinctly:

"I love it."

TGL is extremely tech-forward, something that is rather uncommon on the golf course. That doesn't matter as much to Clark, who has routinely mentioned that he's in favor of anything that "grows the game."

The golfer has, so far in the 2024 season, been involved in some very close battles with Scottie Scheffler — the golfer who sits atop the OWGR leaderboard and routinely puts in excellent performances.

One such one in particular was the Players Championship. Clark was behind by a single stroke with a putt that could have tied it up and sent it to a playoff. It lipped out, snatching defeat from the jaws of a potential victory.

Wyndham Clark just missed a tying putt on the 18th at the Players Championship

Clark said he quickly moved on from it. He did admit that he let a few expletives fly in the immediate aftermath and was relatively surprised that it didn't go in, but revealed that he had a good dinner later that evening and didn't think about it any further.

This was not something he could have done before he did some extensive work on his mental fortitude. Clark admitted:

“That is something that I struggled the most with prior to this last year and a half. The bounce back ability and to handle the adversity... when you make bogeys or doubles, I used to follow those bogeys and doubles with more bogeys."

That mentality was brought up in the interview, and it was compared to the famous 'Mamba Mentality' of Kobe Bryant. Clark has largely displayed an even temperament on course, and it is often difficult to tell if he's frustrated about a failure.

Clark said he worked with a sports psychologist to develop that mentality, and he's honored to have been compared in any way to Bryant, whom he called one of his favorite athletes ever:

“I started working with my sports psychologist and working on my self-talk. I created the mentality that it doesn’t matter what just happened, I know I can bounce right back and make birdie. That is something we specifically worked on.”

He didn't have the opportunity to bounce back from that Players putt since it ended the game, but he quickly moved on. Scheffler watched that same putt that nearly tied it and said:

"I mean, Wyndham put up a good fight. He put up a good fight last week. He's been playing obviously some great golf this year. You know, I'm sure this won't be the last time this year that we're both on top of the leaderboard battling it out."

We asked Clark about this, and he said it was high praise from one of the game's best golfers. He went on to say:

"He's the bar."

Scheffler is the top-ranked golfer, and Clark understands that he and everyone else on tour are just chasing that position. They're all trying to reach Scheffler's level atop the perch.

Clark specifically said how Scheffler pushes him to get better at the sport, and that he envisions that he can rise to Scheffler's level one day and give him the same inspiration to improve.

For now, Clark is aware that Scheffler has gotten the better of him. He was a stroke shy of the top-ranked player at the Players and a few back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational the week before. He said he's looking forward to getting some over on Scheffler in return.

Perhaps he can begin this weekend by capturing his first-ever Masters title in his maiden appearance. Scheffler is the betting favorite, but it's hard to count Clark out.

Edited by Aniket Rai