U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

June 15, 2023

Wyndham Clark

The Los Angeles Country Club

Flash Interview

Q. Fantastic round of golf in the afternoon. What did you see out of the course today?

WYNDHAM CLARK: You know, it wasn't -- it was pretty benign, to be honest. Tees were up. The pins weren't crazy tough. There wasn't that much wind, and then it wasn't that firm. If you hit it in the fairway you had a good chance to make birdies on most of the holes. If you missed fairways it was still challenging, but I thought it was very gettable today.

Q. A lot of talk coming into the week about how players were going to approach No. 6. Can you talk us through that hole?

WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, it's a fantastic hole. I think you can play it a bunch of different ways. I personally like going for it. I can see laying up, as well, but yeah, today I went for it and was just short and chipped it up and had a short little birdie putt.

It's a challenging hole. If you hit a great shot off the tee, it's pretty easy, but you can also get in some weird spots.

Q. What part of your game were you most proud of today?

WYNDHAM CLARK: Probably my putting and my mental game. I didn't hit it all that great, you know. In the fairway my iron game was a little suspect, but I putted great. I had some bogeys out there and I followed every bogey up with birdie so I thought mentally I was great.

Q. Do you feel any different since your win?

WYNDHAM CLARK: I mean, a little bit. Obviously at least I know I can do it, so when I'm playing good golf and I have a chance to win, at least I got that monkey off my back.

But other than that, no. I was playing great golf leading up to that, and I've played good golf since. It's obviously nice to win, and it just breeds confidence.

Q. Coming into this week did you have a sense that this could be a good fit for your game?

WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I did. I came in on Tuesday of last week, played a practice round with a buddy of mine and he showed me around, and I felt like there was a lot of holes that fit my eye, and I liked the greens, and I loved the design of the golf course, which usually I play good on courses where I feel comfortable and I like the design of it.

There's a lot of creativity out there, so if you get in trouble, there's some holes where you've really got to be creative and have some fun, and I typically like doing that.

Q. When you shoot 6-under in a major, does it feel different than 6-under somewhere else?

WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I would say so. As much as you try not to make it any different from any other tournament, majors just have a little different buzz. But yeah, 6-under in any major is usually really, really good, especially a U.S. Open, so I'm happy with the round.

Q. When you show up on the property and two guys have shot 8-under, even though you're told that this championship is maybe not built that way, does it change your thinking?

WYNDHAM CLARK: I mean, yeah, a little bit, but at the same time, in U.S. Opens or any tournament, if you try to make birdies, especially U.S. Open, like you try to force it, you're one shot away from making a double or stringing along bogeys. It's huge to just get in play and then be really smart into the greens, and then when you're on the greens you can take advantage of it.

Obviously I started out nicely and got on the right side of momentum and just kept the round going.

Q. Was there a particular shot on this properly that freaks you out a little bit?

WYNDHAM CLARK: Not particularly. Obviously hole 6 coming into it is just a matter of how good you hit the shot and where you go.

There's so much unknown because you might hit it where you want to, but then it could end up in a spot bad. Other than that, I feel really confident on the golf course.

Q. You say you got here last Tuesday --

WYNDHAM CLARK: Well, I played Tuesday. I live in Scottsdale, so I just flew over, played 18 holes and flew back. I have not stayed here since.