Rory McIlroy will tee off at the BMW Championship alongside Wyndham Clark - who caused a stir by claiming he’s better than him before last year’s Ryder Cup. The pair have been drawn together for the opening round of the second play-off event of the FedEx Cup.
Rewind to September 2023 and they were preparing to face off for Team Europe and Team USA in Rome. Then-reigning US Open champion Clark was asked specifically about a match-up with four-time major winner McIlroy during an interview with Golf Channel.
While he said “I have the utmost respect for Rory”, his later admission - “I like to think I am better than him” - made headlines. Clark moved to clarify the situation the following week, explaining how his comment was primarily motivated by his self-belief.
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He responded: “I want everyone to know, I think it was taken out of context. If you listen to the whole interview, I praised Rory and said how much I respect him and how good I think he is and how he’s one of the best players in the last 20 years.
“And what I said was I think I’m better than him when I’m playing good - if I don’t think I’m better than every player out here, then what am I doing? If I’m trying to be the best player in the world, which is what I’m trying to be, I’ve got to believe that.
“Right now, maybe I’m not. He’s had a way better career than me, that’s obvious. But I also have to have that self-belief that I can beat anyone out here.”
Clark went on to triumph over McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick alongside Patrick Cantlay in Saturday’s foursomes at the Ryder Cup. But he lost his Sunday singles match to Rob MacIntyre, with Team USA losing by five points overall.
McIlroy will need to look past any awkward tension between him and Clark after a nightmare showing at the St. Jude Championship, where he finished 68th in the 70-strong field. That saw him slip down to fifth in the FedEx Cup standings.
Finishing T7 at TPC Southwind saw Clark move to just one place behind him in sixth. The top 30 after the next four days at the Castle Pines Golf Club will progress to the Tour Championship finale.
