Wyndham Clark heads into the PGA Tour playoffs with a strong case for Player of the Year, but one prominent analyst says his peers might not see it that way.
The American has climbed back into the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking after starting the year ranked 46th. He claimed the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills and later won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, closing with an 11-under 60 at TPC Craig Ranch.
Those results have placed him among the leading contenders alongside Cameron Young, Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Chris Gotterup. The FedEx St. Jude Championship opens the playoffs Thursday, and the next three events could reshape the award race.
Golf Channel contributor and Golfweek columnist Eamon Lynch raised a concern that has little to do with Clark’s scorecards.
“I think he’s probably got an issue because this is ultimately a popularity vote and Wyndham Clark is a polarising guy amongst them in the locker room,” Lynch said on Golf Channel.
Golfweek’s Todd Kelly highlighted the comments, noting that Clark’s second U.S. Open title and the Byron Nelson victory have made him one of the top candidates. Clark is the only player among the main contenders to have won a major this season. He took the Byron Nelson by three strokes after that final-round 60.
Other solid finishes include a third-place result at the Memorial Tournament and a fifth at the Travelers Championship. Damon Hack pointed to the quality of those wins during a Golf Channel discussion.
“We always talk about venues mattering in this game. You won a U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, which I think counts for more,” Hack said.
Clark’s 2026 campaign marks a clear rebound from last year, when he drew attention for incidents involving broken lockers and a thrown driver. Social media clips also prompted questions about possible improvements to lies in the rough and other potential rules issues.
Because Player of the Year is decided by a vote of PGA Tour players, Lynch argued that locker-room standing could prove decisive. He currently favors Cameron Young, who won The Players Championship, finished second at The Open Championship and captured a Signature Event at Doral.
Clark still has time to make his body of work hard to ignore. He sits fourth in the FedEx Cup standings with 2,255 points and is scheduled to play all three playoff events. Despite missing the cut at the PGA Championship and The Open, he posted a four-under total to win the U.S. Open and finished 30 under at the Byron Nelson.
Additional numbers bolster the resume. Clark ranks 11th on tour in Strokes Gained: Total at 1.110, fourth in putts per round at 28.00 and 24th in Strokes Gained: Putting. Those figures come after a season in which he has shown consistency across different setups.
Scottie Scheffler remains a central figure in the conversation. The world’s top-ranked player has one victory this year but five runner-up finishes. Lynch believes Scheffler needs a strong stretch in the playoffs to become a serious contender.
“I honestly do not think that unless Scottie wins at least a couple of playoff events in the next couple of weeks, I don’t think he’s a player of the year candidate,” Lynch said.
For Clark, the stretch that begins in Memphis offers a clear chance to add more hardware and quiet any lingering questions about his standing among fellow players. A deep run through the FedEx Cup events would leave voters with an even fuller picture of a season that already includes a major championship and a dominant regular-season win.
The field for the St. Jude Championship features many of the same names competing for both the FedEx Cup and the Player of the Year honor.
How Clark performs over the next few weeks will help determine whether his on-course results outweigh any perceptions that exist away from the scoreboard.
