If he wins the Players Championship tonight, Wyndham Clark might just – depending on how the other players finish – become the top-ranked player in the world. After coming close earlier this month at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – where he finished bridesmaid to Scottie Scheffler – Clark raced to the second-largest lead in the history of the Players after two rounds. At the time this column is being written, Clark leads the field at 14-under par – four shots clear of Xander Schauffele and Nick Taylor with two rounds to go. At this point, given the number of strokes Clark has picked up on the field in putting (six strokes), combined with his prodigious length off the tee and his record at big-ticket events over the past 12 months, the money is on Clark to get the job done when the final round commences on Sunday.

Clark’s rapid ascent to the top of the game’s elite has been fired by bursts of brilliance on the game’s biggest stages – major championships and signature events – that are usually characterised by the deepest fields and the toughest golf courses. He first tamed one of the toughest layouts on Tour – Quail Hollow – in May 2023 to win the Wells Fargo Championship for his debut win. And it wasn’t even close, leading fellow player Rich Beem to comment to playing partner Colt Knost near the round’s end, “How is somebody 20 under par on this golf course?” That opening salvo was followed by a career-defining performance at the 2023 US Open: Clark won ‘the toughest test in golf,’ one month after his debut win. In February 2024, he won the truncated 54-hole AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for his second signature event that brought with it $3.6 million and a healthy 700 FedEx Points. To sign off with a flourish Clark wrapped up the event with a record-breaking final round of 60.

The Players’ Championship is considered an unofficial ‘fifth major’, for its elite field and the stern test presented by the TPC Sawgrass. Considered one of the toughest courses in the world and characterised by the signature island green of the Par-3 17th hole, Sawgrass is intimidating, to say the least. Clark knows exactly what he’s up against: in his last four appearances here, he’s broken par only on one occasion. He was disqualified on his debut in 2019 and missed the cut on the next two occasions. In 2023, he finally broke par and finished a credible tied 27th. Clark’s long game has always been amongst the best on tour but it’s been his performance with the flat stick (he changed to a new putter after the 2023 Players) that has really tipped the scales.