Denver native Wyndham Clark soaking in the Olympic atmosphere ahead of competing in men’s tourney in France beginning Thursday
By Gary Baines – 7/29/2024
It’s taken a while for golf to settle in as an Olympic sport.
When it was re-added to the Games in 2016 — after previously being an official competition there in 1900 and 1904 — some tour players and fans felt golf didn’t belong on that stage. And some still might.
But don’t count Denver native Wyndham Clark among them. Thursday through Sunday near Paris, the Valor Christian grad will be one of four Americans competing in the 2024 Olympic golf tournament. And he’s not just treating it like just another golf event; he seems to be going all in and savoring the moment.
The impending Colorado Golf Hall of Famer — he’ll be inducted on Dec. 1 — participated in Friday’s opening ceremonies in Paris, including taking a ride down the River Seine on the Team USA boat.
Afterward, on an X post accompanying a photo of himself and U.S. golf teammate Collin Morikawa in front of the Eiffel Tower lit up with the Olympic rings, Clark wrote: “What. A. Night. ”
Clark, whose three PGA Tour wins include the 2023 U.S. Open, will be one of 60 players in the men’s golf tournament, including American teammates Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Morikawa. But on Friday, that was for another day as he and Morikawa and about 350 Americans floated on the Seine.
“I wanted to participate in the Opening Ceremony because it’s a dream come true,” Clark said in a story published by Golf Digest. “I think it’s probably the coolest part about the Olympics, to be together with all the athletes and see all the countries and what the Olympics means to represent your own country. It’s something I didn’t want to miss, and it was something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Along the way, Clark took photos with many of the athletes. One was fellow Colorado high school grad Derrick White (Legend HS), who recently won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics and is now hooping it up with Team USA.
“The most memorable part was the probably being on the boat and going by and seeing all the people that were in the stands waving down,” Clark said. “Also, you’re in a very historic city that has so many amazing monuments and then you have the people waving their country flags. It just was honestly pretty surreal.”
Clark alongside his American men’s golf teammates. (@Wyndham_Clark on X)
(Updated July 31) While Clark went to various Olympic events for a few days starting on Friday, he said on Wednesday that he’s now very much concentrating on the task at hand.
“I have a purpose, and that’s to try to get on that podium … win gold or something,” he said. “I’m focused and locked in to do my best.”
Clark sits No. 5 in the Official World Golf Rankings, with Scheffler No. 1, defending Olympic champ Schauffele (after two wins in majors in 2024) No. 2 and Morikawa No. 6.
The Olympic men’s golf tournament will be televised by Golf Channel from 1-10 a.m. (MT) on Thursday through Saturday, and 1-10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Clark will tee off at 1:44 a.m. (MT) on Thursday and 3:44 am. (MT) on Friday. For all the pairings, 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