Wyndham Clark has enjoyed an excellent 18 months of golf, with the American claiming a Major scalp at the US Open, as well as two big titles in the form of the Wells Fargo Championship and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
During his best run of form in 2023, in which Clark won the US Open and Wells Fargo Championship, he also participated in his first Ryder Cup but, ultimately, his efforts and that of the US side weren't enough, as they succumbed to a 16.5 - 11.5 defeat at the hands of team Europe.
After the tournament was finished, many in the golf world pinned the lack of preparation on the US side for the result, with Sky Sports' Andrew Coltart calling the US team's preparation "disgraceful". Now, a year on, Clark himself has admitted that the Americans "weren't prepared" going into Marco Simone.
Speaking at the first PGA Tour FedEx Cup Fall event of 2024, Clark stated: "Last year it was realistically four weeks (break after the TOUR Championship) and then by the time you pegged it up to play, it was the fifth week, so it's five weeks. I mean, I would never prepare for a big event where I had five weeks off between one tournament to the next.
"I played actually in that round with Max (Homa) in the best ball (of the Ryder Cup) the first day. We -- like through four holes I said, 'man, I'm sorry', because I kind of was not playing good the first four holes. I said, 'I'm sorry, I'm not tournament sharp right now, I'll get into it'. Then eventually I started getting more comfortable".
Following the finale of the Tour Championship in August 2023, there was just one PGA Tour tournament in a month stretch, which was the Procore Championship. In that event, just two players from the 12-man Ryder Cup squad teed it up, with Justin Thomas and Max Homa finishing fifth and in a tie for seventh.
For the Americans, it's a similar story this year as, at the end of September, they will play against the International Team for The Presidents Cup. Once again, the Procore Championship is the only PGA Tour tournament between now and then, with Clark opting to play in Napa to not replicate the same mistake as last time.
"I felt like a lot of us weren't prepared (for the Ryder Cup). This year for Presidents Cup it's less time, but I didn't want to do that again," admitted Clark, who then suggested "if it's something that I do myself or hopefully Team USA kind of makes it mandatory that everyone does it, I think we should all play before.
"I know we have such a grueling schedule and we all just played the Tour Championship, but if we can just do, it's just one more week to play and to keep us sharp so that we can win, I think it's worth it."
At the Procore Championship, Clark, Homa and Theegala are the three players from Team USA teeing it up, whilst Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Min Woo Lee are three individuals from the International side.
To add further, International stars Byeong Hun An, Si Woo Kim and Adam Scott will play the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour the week before the Presidents Cup, which gets underway at Royal Montreal Golf Club on Thursday 26th September.
