Wyndham Clark hopes his successful first pitch at Tuesday’s Tigers game carries over to the first tee Thursday at the Rocket Classic in Detroit.
The Tigers delivered arguably their finest performance of the season with a 14-0 rout of the Baltimore Orioles after the ceremonial opening pitch from the two-time U.S. Open champion.
“If they want to put me on the roster to help the wins, I have a number, I’ll come out and do it. I’m just kidding,” he said during a press conference Wednesday at the newly renovated Detroit Golf Club.
“It was really fun … and throwing out the first pitch is always exciting, nerve-wracking,” Clark said. “The Tigers, they treated me awesome. I got to talk to the GM and a bunch of the coaches and they took me underneath to the bullpen, got to throw around with some of the guys, got to watch them hit. That was really awesome.”
Clark, 32, is looking for his third win of the season following victories at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May and U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in June. He is coming off a missed cut at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, which snapped a streak of six straight top-13 finishes.
Currently ranked No. 9 in the world, Clark is making his fifth start at the Rocket Classic, where he missed the cut last year after a second-round 74.
Clark ranks fourth in the FedEx Cup standings and feels good about his overall game as the postseason approaches.
“I would say probably the best improvement is probably the iron game and then the putting has been very good,” he said. “I feel very confident in my game. You know, we’re coming into Playoffs, last few events, so hopefully keep the momentum going and really put a nice cherry on top of an amazing season.”
Clark was asked about future PGA Tour schedules with the implementation of a two-track system and potentially spreading out the Signature Events to give golfers more flexibility.
“Having some designated weeks off would be nice and I think it would be great for the tournaments, sponsors and the fans having that little separation. You’ll get the best fields every week,” he said.
The Colorado native also expressed an interest in exploring new markets.
“I’d love if we expanded west where I’m from, maybe play somewhere in Denver or Seattle, some of those untapped markets that we don’t go to. Like Chicago or New York would be I think really good for the Tour to play in those spots.
“So I’m really excited for ’28. I think it’s going to be the best thing for golf.”
