Wyndham Clark has slammed Zach Johnson for overseeing a ‘disjointed’ 2023 Ryder Cup campaign for Team USA. The golfer has claimed that he was informed of his playing partner too late to properly prepare as Team Europe claimed victory last year.
Johnson’s decision-making came under intense scrutiny from fans and the media after his side were humbled by Team Europe. Clarke has now opened up on his own frustrations with the 48-year-old’s leadership.
"Honestly one of the biggest shocks when I played for the team in Rome was just that... I didn't really know who I was playing with,” Clark said
"I didn't really know the situation, so I was just kind of out there on the range and somebody would come up [to me] and say, 'Okay Wyndham, so you're going [to be playing with] so-and-so.'
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"I was like, okay, well, I didn't really play a practice round with him. So it was just disjointed."
Clark was much more impressed with Jim Furyk’s leadership at the Presidents Cup. The 30-year-old added: "This (the Presidents Cup) was awesome.
“I'll give you an example, on the Saturday where we had the 36-hole day at the Presidents Cup, he (Furyk) told me, 'Okay Wyndham, I'm going to put you and Keegan out in the morning and I'm going to sit you in the afternoon, are you good with that?'"
Speaking about the difference in the approach at both tournaments, Clark said that he was able to prepare better when he was given plenty of notice.
"It's just crazy to me," he continued. “[The benefits are] you can just prepare mentally.
"You can say, okay, I've only got to prepare for the morning, it is best ball, so I'm going to go and make sure that I have my best game and go out there and win and I'm going to be thinking about birdies.'
"Or, if it was alternate shot you start visualising like, ‘hey, I know I'm just playing alternate shot so I'm going to visualise my tee shots, the putts I'm going to have or the iron shots I'm going to have in’."
Johnson has been replaced by Keegan Bradley for the 2025 Ryder Cup. Bradley could become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963, admitting he would “love” to be a member of the team.
