It’s a crisp Autumn Tuesday and I’m at TPC Boston about to hit the hyperlinks. Beside me is Wyndham Clark, 2023 US Open Champ, present PGA sixth-ranked participant and one of the charming stars of the Netflix sequence “Full Swing.”
Contemporary off his group win on the President’s Cup in Montreal and about to take a multi-week break from the game, he’s on the town to amplify the enjoyable forward for the 2025 Traveler’s Championship, the annual June tourney in Connecticut he’s but to win however holds most expensive.
We’re about to move out to tee off and fortunate me: I’ve obtained the prospect to select the mind of one of many easiest golfers on the planet.
What did I ask him about? How one can hone in on extra exact chips? When to put up and take my medication and when to go daring? Nope. Moderately, I used to be fortunate sufficient to have Clark share perception on what he sees as essentially the most highly effective device any golfer can add to their bag: strong, well-maintained psychological well being.
Clark, who discovered himself not solely struggling to make cuts in tourneys however in a darkish place total after shedding his mom to most cancers after which not reaching within the PGA as quicky as he’d hoped, has been open, public and trustworthy about his wrestle and his path not simply again however ahead. His “Full Swing” episode deep dives into all of it.
“What’s the perfect recommendation I can provide you?” he mentioned to me. “Consider in good issues and they’ll occur. I do know it sounds easy however if you happen to miss 5 putts and also you assume you’re going to miss the subsequent; you most likely will. If you happen to assume ‘hey, the subsequent one shall be wonderful,’ finally it’s – and also you flip the change. Good issues are going to occur.”
Clark factors out to me that his highway to having the ability to not simply say that however personal it has been a protracted one. He turned to remedy and sports activities psychology after a protracted sequence of tough finishes, and after seeing his unfavorable response to dangerous play seep into his complete life. Issues have been dangerous, he instructed me; and he knew he needed to a minimum of attempt to take motion.
Now, taking part in at prime degree with that US Open win and President’s Cup underneath his belt, he tells me proudly owning good psychological well being takes greater than saying this stuff. It takes apply, research, endurance and behavior. However any golfer who embraces it, he believes, will in time discover the priceless worth.
Clark begins his day with meditation and a apply of writing out his intentions for that day. He readily admits to me that in the first place it felt a bit bizarre; he wasn’t certain it could stick.
“The primary time I meditated? Yeah, it felt unusual,” he mentioned. “I’ve a racing thoughts, and to gradual it down is basically onerous. However you understand what I realized? The mind is a muscle. It may be educated.”
At first he might solely do 5 minutes of meditation; now he’s all in on as a lot time as he wants for any given day.
The checklist writing felt compelled at first too, however now it comes naturally – as regular to his morning routine as brushing his tooth and ensuring his golf equipment are clear.
What did he write down on the morning of that ultimate spherical of the US Open? I used to be anticipating one thing alongside the traces of “go massive off the tees.” That’s not, he instructed me, the way it works. It’s extra nuanced
“That morning? I wrote down ‘Search for and smile on the crowd’ and ‘play cocky.’ In different phrases, don’t draw back from each appreciating the second you’re in and from going for what you imagine you are able to do.”
It received him the glory of a Main win and a $3.6 million verify. However there’s far more to what psychological well being apply brings to him – and to all golfers, he says.
“All this hasn’t simply made my sport higher; it’s made my life higher. I’m extra targeted and happier in all methods. And I prefer it,” he mentioned.
Clark says he has a particular affinity to the Traveler’s Championship (https://travelerschampionship.com) as a result of it was his first invite to a PGA occasion and this previous yr he received their famed 15 ½ gap – an the other way up umbrella gap that the closest to the pin wins $10,000 for his or her favourite charity. His winnings went to The Play Massive Basis, which he based in honor of his late mother.
That performs effectively into his psychological well being focus too: Discovering pleasure on the course past the straightforward first place win is sweet for all of us.
My take away? As odd as it might really feel to a few of us at first, sharpening our psychological well being betters our video games – and our lives. You possibly can see Clark up shut taking part in Traveler’s come June. Why not use this winter off season to discover this a part of your sport?
As Clark mentioned to me, “Get your self to a spot the place all good issues can and can occur.” I feel I’ll prefer it there.
