CALEDON, Ontario — At the 2024 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal in Quebec, Wyndham Clark was one of the U.S. team’s most fiery competitors and he didn’t shy away from the Canadian galleries on Saturday at the RBC Canadian Open.
Clark — who climbed the leaderboard with a third-round 63 at TPC Toronto that left him tied for second when he completed his round with the leaders still playing the opening nine – donned a Team USA men’s hockey sweater while playing “The Rink” 14th hole with Jack Hughes’ name on it. Hughes was a hero for Team USA at this year’s Olympics, where the Americans defeated Canada, 2-1, in the Gold Medal game.
It was an eventful and loud moment for Clark, who hit his tee shot to 4 feet at the par-3 14th hole and converted the birdie putt amid a chorus of boos, but it wasn’t as eventful as it was to find the Team USA jersey.
“On Thursday we get up to The Rink and I’m like, Dang it, why didn’t we bring a USA hockey jersey,” said Clark, who tried to order a jersey online but couldn’t get it shipped to Canada in time.
But during Friday’s second round, Clark saw a fan wearing the Hughes sweater and asked if he could buy it.
“I’m going to ship it back to him,” Clark said. “Obviously, I got a ton of boos. I was doing it to more celebrate USA’s win, it had nothing against Canada, but I just thought in hockey country it would be kind of fun.”
Clark, who heard plenty from the Canadian crowds during the ’24 Presidents Cup, said he was nervous over the birdie putt on No. 14.
“They were booing me all the way up even right before I putted,” he said. “If I miss that then it looks really bad. So, I’m glad I birdied it. I think some guys came up and said, ‘You got stones, you know, that was pretty impressive.’ It was all fun and games.”
