Sunday Swing | Clark Claims Elusive PGA Tour Title

Welcome back to the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf! This week was a busy one for the professional golf world as the PGA Tour was back at the legendary Quail Hollow Club for the Wells Fargo Championship, and the LPGA hosted a unique team event in the Hanwha LifePlus International Crown at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California.

Wells Fargo Championship - Tournament History 

In the 18 editions of the Wells Fargo Championship, 16 of them have been hosted at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was held at Eagle Point Golf Club in 2017 as Quail Hollow geared up for the PGA Championship, and at TPC Potomac in 2022 as they prepared to host the President’s Cup at Quail Hollow. Only two players have won this event multiple times: Rory McIlroy (2010, 2015, 2021) and Max Homa (2019, 2022). Quail Hollow is an iconic venue on the PGA Tour and has always drawn strong fields. Even though Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler took the week off, the field still included heavyweights such as McIlroy, Homa, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, and many more.

The Big Swing

This week the Big Swing goes to first-time PGA Tour winner Wyndham Clark. Clark has been playing some of the best golf of his career this season, and this week he finally broke through with a commanding win over a strong field. On a streak of made cuts that dates back to October, and three top six finishes in his last five starts, Clark teed off on Thursday looking like he was ready to win with an opening-round 67. After backing up his first round with another 67 on Friday, Clark found himself in a battle heading into the weekend with some big names including Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, and Sungjae Im – just to name a few. 

On Saturday, Clark began the day with a one shot lead over Schauffele before they each delivered a superb display of golf. Clark posted eight-under 63 and Schauffele seven-under 64, and it was suddenly a two-horse race. 

The final round began with Schauffele taking control, beginning his round two-under through seven holes while Clark remained in neutral. Things quickly swung in Clark’s favor, however, beginning at No. 8. The former Oregon Duck rolled in a birdie to cut the deficit to one, then Schauffele proceeded to sloppily bogey the ninth. After making the turn, Clark took over. He made birdie on Nos. 10, 12, 14, and 15 to create some separation from Schauffele.

In the end, it was Clark comfortably winning by four shots to claim his first PGA Tour title. Rounding out the top-5 was Schauffele (runner-up), Harris English and Hatton (T3), and Fleetwood and Adam Scott (T5). 

Winner’s Bag - Wyndham Clark 

Titleist tour staffer Wyndham Clark earned an emotional first PGA Tour victory on Sunday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Championship. Clark was nothing short of excellent from tee to green on his way to a dominant win. His game has been trending toward a win for weeks, and it finally came together at Quail Hollow Club this weekend. His primarily Titleist setup includes a Titleist TSi3 driver (9 degrees) Taylormade Stealth 2 3-wood (15 degrees), Titleist T200 3-iron,  Titleist 620 CB irons (4-9), Titleist Vokey Design SM9 wedges (46, 52, and 56 degrees) and a Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks lob wedge (60 degrees). On the green, Clark has a unique putting setup that he admitted was inspired by Rickie Fowler’s recent putting change – a 38-inch Odyssey Jailbird Versa. Tying everything together is the #1 ball in golf – the Titleist Pro V1x. 

In the World of Women’s Golf

This week in the women’s golf world, a unique, 32-player, eight-team field had a showdown at Harding Park for the Hanwha LifePlus International Crown. The format is very unique and similar to the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup in the sense that it is only played biennial (every other year). The event debuted in 2014 and while relatively new, it is a fun and different experience for the players and the fans. The countries participating in this year's event included United States, Sweden, Thailand, Australia, South Korea, China, Japan, and England. Each country was seeded 1-8 and placed in one of two pools.

This year, the four teams that advanced to Sunday were the United States, Thailand, Sweden, and Australia. In the semi-finals, the United States team was eliminated by Thailand and Sweden was eliminated by Australia, setting up the championship between Thailand and Australia. The Thai team, consisting of Atthaya Thitikul, Patty Tavatanakit, and sisters Moriya Jutanugarn and Ariya Jutanugarn, faced off against a powerhouse in Australia that featured last week's winner Hannah Green, Stephanie Kyriacou, Minjee Lee, and Sarah Kemp. Unfortunately for team Australia, they ran into a blazing hot team from Thailand who won the championship matches seemingly with ease by scores of 4 & 2, 4 & 3, and 4 & 3. This was the first International Crown victory for Thailand.

The United States was able to defeat Sweden in the third place match thanks to a nail-biting 1 Up win in four ball by Danielle Kang and Nelly Korda over Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall.