Wyndham Clark and Rory McIlroy, the man who previously claimed to be superior in skill, are set for a potentially tense meeting at the BMW Championship.
They’ll tee off together in the first round of the prestigious second FedEx Cup playoff event.
Last year, leading up to the Ryder Cup, the now-US Open champ Clark stirred controversy during an interview
with Golf Channel when he commented on a possible face-off with the Northern Irishman in Rome.
Despite showing respect by saying, “I have the utmost respect for Rory”, it was his comment “I like to think I am better than him” that ignited discussions across the golfing community.
He later clarified his statement, asserting that his words reflected his self-belief rather than disrespect towards McIlroy.
Clark further explained his position, noting, “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.”
He continued to outline his confidence with the assertion, “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,” reports the Mirror.
Clark acknowledged McIlroy’s more illustrious career but maintained his outlook: “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 managed to secure a victory over McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick alongside Patrick Cantlay in Saturday’s foursomes at the Ryder Cup. However, he was defeated in his Sunday singles match by Rob MacIntyre, contributing to Team USA’s overall loss by five points.
McIlroy will have to put aside any potential friction with him following a disappointing performance at the St. Jude Championship, where he ended up 68th out of 70 players.
That result caused him to drop to fifth place in the FedEx Cup standings.
After finishing T7 at TPC Southwind, Clark is now just one spot behind McIlroy, sitting in sixth place. The top 30 players after the upcoming four days at Castle Pines Golf Club will advance to the Tour Championship finale, battling it out for the top $25m (£19m) prize.
Follow us to see more useful information, as well as to give us more motivation to update more useful information for you.
Source: USA Today
