Caddie John Ellis has opened up on his split from Wyndham Clark, which brought to an end a partnership that began a decade ago.
Matt Gannon broke the news of Clark and Ellis’s split on X, with the caddie later appearing on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio’s Gravy & The Sleeze with Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz.
Former pro Ellis was Clark’s assistant head coach at the University of Oregon’s men’s golf program when he began caddying for him in 2016.
He explained that maintaining the pair’s friendship was more important than continuing their working relationship, admitting that “things just weren’t right.”
"We're friends before business and...things just weren't right."John Ellis & Wyndham Clark have split, but their relationship is still strong. Ellis talks about it w/ Colt & Drew on Gravy & The Sleeze.@ColtKnost | @thesleezyman 📻: https://t.co/NmEfdRTY9U pic.twitter.com/HRarmKlmkwMarch 18, 2026
He explained: "When things aren’t going great and I care more about, you know, Wyndham and I’s friendship, you know, we’re friends before business, and things just weren't right.
“Something had to give and it felt like it was just time maybe, you know, a different voice for both of us would help.”
The split comes during a period where Clark is struggling relative to the pair’s most successful period. That was in 2023, and included Clark’s victory over Rory McIlroy at the US Open, the month after he has claimed his maiden PGA Tour title at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Clark reached the world’s top 10 for the first time in his career shortly after his maiden Major win, and two months after his most recent PGA Tour title, at the weather-affected 2024 Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he was in the world’s top three.
At that point, he appeared set for a period of dominance, but some high points aside, his form began to decline.
A T13 at The American Express is the best Clark has to show for his efforts in 2026 so far, while he could only place T46 at The Players Championship, with the split coming just days after the TPC Sawgrass event and leaving the star 67th in the world rankings.
Despite Clark’s slump in form, the news of the split still came as a surprise given the pair’s long-term friendship, but Ellis insisted they had not fallen out.
He added: “There’s no… if I get on Instagram it looks like there’s a lot of hatred, but there’s no hatred for Wyndham and I. We are still friends. We texted yesterday, it’s all good. It’s part of the business and I’m going to still root for him and surely he will root for me whatever I do after this.”
According to Gannon, Dave Pelekoudas will be on Clark's bag "for the foreseeable future" after filling in for Ellis in the past.
Pelekoudas has previously caddied for pros including Xander Schauffele, Taylor Moore, Sam Ryder and Brian Campbell.
