Wyndham Clark’s Presidents Cup debut match ends with hard-fought win as he and Keegan Bradley team up; the U.S. sweeps the four-ball session
By Gary Baines – 9/26/2024
Over the last year, Wyndham Clark has represented the U.S. at the Ryder Cup, the Olympics and now the Presidents Cup. And, as far as first days go at those events, Thursday’s start at the Presidents Cup in Montreal was the most successful for the Denver native.
After tying his first-day match at last year’s Ryder Cup and opening with a 75 in the 2024 men’s Olympic golf tournament, Clark scored a victory in his first match at the Presidents Cup.
Clark teamed with Keegan Bradley, winner of the BMW Championship last month at Castle Pines Golf Club, to defeat the International team of Taylor Pendrith and Christiaan Bezuidenhout 1 up in a four-ball match. It was Bradley’s first international team-event match since 2014.
Perhaps best of all for the American duo, the victory was part of a U.S. sweep of the five four-ball matches on Thursday.
“Being not down 4-0 and being up 5-0 is really a huge relief,” Clark said. “It’s fun being here. It was amazing playing with Keegan. I’ve always looked up to him. I watched him play actually at the Medinah Ryder Cup (in 2012) when I was in college. So I’ve seen him play, and I know how much emotion and energy he brings. I’m just glad we could get the point today.”
Said Bradley, who will serve as U.S. Ryder Cup captain next year: “I told Wyndham walking up I just missed it so much. To be around the guys and see how into it they are and how much they love each other and just friends, it’s inspiring for me. … This was special, man. I don’t take these weeks for granted anymore. I’m kind of speechless. It was just amazing.”
Clark, the first Colorado high school graduate since Hale Irwin in 1994 to play in Presidents Cup, and Bradley never trailed on Thursday but over the final 10 holes they were never more than 1 up. And the match was tied after 10 holes and after 12 holes.
“I felt like we played amazing golf, and they never went away,” said Clark, a Valor Christian High School graduate and an impending Colorado Golf Hall of Famer. “Hat’s off to them. They played an amazing match. Keegan and I made some awesome putts and just put some awesome pressure on them.”
Indeed, Clark drained putts of 45, 13 and 12 feet on Thursday, while Bradley hit the mark from 35, 19, 15 and three times from 12 feet. They finished 9 under par best-ball for the 18 holes in lift, clean and place conditions.
Clark helped the cause on Thursday by draining putts from 45, 13 and 12 feet.
Clark and Bradley when ahead for good when Bradley holed his 35-foot birdie on No. 13. On 15, Bradley kept the Americans 1 up by making a tying 12-foot birdie as Pendrith hit it to 1 foot. On 18, Bradley and Pendrith matched birdies again, with the American converting a big breaker from 19 feet and Pendrith from 11 feet.
Bezuidenhout struggled with his putter down the stretch, missing three 7-foot attempts in the final five holes.
Clark will also tee it up in Friday’s foursomes/alternate shot session as he’ll be paired with Tony Finau against Canadians Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes. The match will begin at 11:47 a.m. (MT).
The action will be televised by Golf Channel on Friday (11 a.m.-4 p.m.). On Saturday, it will be Golf Channel from 5-6 a.m., with NBC going from 6 a.m.-4 p.m. And on Sunday, NBC will handle the singles from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
For all the results from the Presidents Cup, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com