Wyndham Clark has called the Olympic golf tournament "probably even bigger" than the Ryder Cup following confirmation that he had qualified for Team USA's squad.
The Olympic qualifying period for the men ended at the culmination of the US Open, and a T56 result at Pinehurst No.2 in the defence of his maiden Major was enough to help Clark join Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Collin Morikawa stamp their ticket to Paris, France.
A debut Olympic appearance arrives almost a year after the Denver, Colorado-born golfer pulled on a Team USA polo for the first time at senior level. Clark secured 1.5 points from three matches as Luke Donald's men won 16.5 -11.5 at Marco Simone - a decade on from his opening stint as an American representative.
As an amateur, Clark competed against Jon Rahm and Thomas Detry at the Palmer Cup in 2014 - Europe triumphing 18.5 - 11.5 at Walton Heath Golf Club in England after a rampant Saturday singles session emphatically sealed victory for the men in blue. Going into Saturday with the score level at 10, Clark and teammate Bryson DeChambeau both lost in an 8.5 - 1.5 session thumping, with the LIV player falling 2&1 to Jack McDonald and Clark losing 4&3 to Rahm.
Yet, 10 years later, Clark produced plenty of the fighting spirit he is now known for to not only make the Ryder Cup dozen but also add another international team to his resume.
Strong form and unshakeable determination littered his performances throughout 2023 and into the first part of 2024, consequently allowing the 30-year-old to start preparing for a crack at earning an Olympic medal.
Discussing two seismic events in the world of men's professional golf, Clark suggested the Olympics was more prestigious due to the global nature of the competition.
Asked what it means to be able to represent the United States at the Olympics after doing so in Italy, Clark said: "The Ryder Cup in golf is kind of the biggest thing, but now that golf's in the Olympics, it's probably even bigger than that, because you're representing your country at such a bigger level.
"Hopefully, all four of us can go and try to snag some podium spots and give medals to the US to try to win that total medal count. But, yeah, it's pretty awesome. This probably ranks as the coolest team I've ever made, for sure."
Later asked if Clark was feeling any extra pressure due to the high regard in which he holds the Olympics, the two-time PGA Tour winner said: "No, but it is a nice weight lifted off my shoulders knowing that I made the team versus feeling like if I was trying to hold on in any regards. So now that I made it, it doesn't matter if you're the No. 1 guy or the 4th guy, as long as you make the team. So it's pretty awesome that I finally made it."
If Clark is to stand a chance of returning back to the US with a medal around his neck, the Colorado golfer knows he will have to regain his early season form after two missed cuts and no better than T47 in his previous four starts.
A T3 finish at the RBC Heritage preceded the mini slump, and - speaking after an excellent start to this week's Travelers Championship via a four-under 66 - Clark admitted he has been grinding away more than usual recently.
He said: "I worked on every part of my game [over the past couple of months]. To be honest, it's some of the hardest I've worked in a long time.
"First, we're really trying to work on the short game and feel like we've gotten that to where it's in a great spot. Same thing with the putting. Then, unfortunately, you do that and then you lose your swing.
"Then I was working on my swing, and so the last two weeks have been a lot of grinding on the swing, and I feel like we made some good headway and I hit it pretty good today."
Clark's second-round tee time at the final Signature Event of the PGA Tour season is at 12:50pm ET (5:50pm BST), where he plays alongside Jordan Spieth.
