‘It’s been amazing’: Wyndham Clark treasures memorable homecoming despite tough final round

CASTLE PINES — Wyndham Clark didn’t get the win in his first home tournament, but it was still a memorable week for the Denver native.

Clark shot a 2-over par 74 in Sunday’s final round of the BMW Championship to finish the tournament 5-under and tied for 13th. He entered the day in outright fifth place at 7-under.

The BMW was Clark’s first time playing a PGA Tour event in Colorado. Clark turned professional in 2017, three years after Cherry Hills Country Club held the same tournament in 2014.

Just down the road from where he grew up, Clark treasured every moment of the week.

“It's been amazing,” Clark said. “Denver showed out great. I had tons of support. It was all in all an amazing week with all the support and friends coming out and all the love I felt.”

Clark started the day well. He birdied the first hole before parring the next five. But Clark picked up his first bogey on hole 7 before doing the same on hole 9.

He logged back-to-back birdies to begin the back nine, then logged three pars in a row to get back to 8-under overall. But Clark went 3-over on the final four holes to fall down the leaderboard.

His double bogey on the 17th hole was a low point for the week. Clark was even for the day before needing six shots to reach the green and walking off with a seven.

Still, Clark felt the love from the Colorado faithful, high-fiving fans after finishing the hole.

“It was nice that they were showing me love,” Clark said. “Obviously I really screwed up the tournament on that hole. But it was nice to have the love from the home crowd.”

Clark didn’t walk off Castle Pines Golf Club with the $3.6 million purse awarded to the winner. But it was a homecoming for him.

Clark spent most of his time away from the course this week with his friends and family that live in the area.

“Had a couple dinners with close friends, and tonight we'll have one, too,” Clark said. “That's probably the most exciting thing that I had this week.”

Clark also qualified for an automatic inclusion on the Presidents Cup, which will be held Sept. 26-29 at Royal Montreal Golf Club. It will be his first appearance in the Presidents Cup.

With the BMW wrapped up, there are no scheduled PGA Tour events in Colorado. It was only the second PGA Tour event in the Centennial State since 2006.

Clark understands why Colorado hasn’t been a frequent destination on the tour.

“I mean, it's hard to play at altitude,” Clark said. “We control our ball to the yard 90% of the time, and then you come here and it's like 40% of the time. It's just a guessing game. There's a lot of luck involved at altitude golf."

He also hopes it becomes a more regular stop.

“I would love for us to come back at least every few years or every other year or every year,” Clark said. “It would be great to be able to come back here. Hopefully that happens.”