Wyndham Clark was stuck in what he described as a “dark place” last year. The 2023 U.S. Open champion endured the worst season of his career in 2025. From the World No. 7 in 2024, he plummeted to the 33rd position in OWGR rankings because of poor form and mounting frustration.

Now, ahead of the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, he arrives with renewed confidence and momentum. However, that confidence didn’t come without struggles and challenges stemming from his decision to self-teach.

“Just in ’20, end of ’22, I went no swing coach, just went solo, and it was one of the best things I’ve ever done. I owned my swing, just played golf, wasn’t playing a golf swing, and obviously had an amazing 23-24 season. At the end of 24, I started losing my ball striking a little bit. And then in ’25, it was terrible. And, you know, people are like, ‘How could you let that off? You’re a tour pro.’ I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for. I knew my feelings. And so if I were pulling it, I’d work on trying to get pushes. If I were hooking it, I would fade it. Vice versa. Well, in that I got a lot of bad habits,” Wyndham Clark said on the Kaufman Show.

“And so when I switched to my new coach, Pat, he just said, ‘Hey, in ’23, your swing looked amazing. Here’s what it looked like. I’d like to bring it back to that. And that’s our first goal. And then, as we do that, we can get better and improve it. So, which obviously sounds simple. But, you know, we were talking about it. I had it; I was getting really long, too much lag, and it was hard to time. So, we got shorter and wider, and that’s kind of been the thing we’ve really been focusing on.

Wyndham Clark hired Pat Coyner to be his swing coach in December 2025. He revealed it in a YouTube interview for the Stories Untold podcast with Natalie Bode. Coyner is the director of instruction at Cherry Hills Country Club. That’s the club where the major champion has honorary membership. So, during the Colorado offseason, when Pat Coyner bounced some ideas off the golfer, the 32-year-old asked him: “Why don’t you come help me?”

When the 4-time PGA Tour winner first noticed the bad habits, he had a session with Butch Harmon. Harmon recognized that Clark was “hanging back” on through impact. The TPI measurement confirmed this, too. This made his tempo inconsistent, and his go-to cut shot was compromised because he was overexposing the club’s toe.

As a fix, he got a little more upright during his swing. He also widened his downswing to stabilize his wrist angles and clubface. With Coyner, Wyndham Clark continued working on the same through a shorter backswing, reduced lag, and more width.

This showed up in his numbers, too.

In 2025, his driving accuracy was 55.49%, and he was 160th on the PGA Tour in this stat. However, that has increased to 58.19% until now. Currently, he is ranked 91st. His SG: Approach the Green also went up significantly. From -0.284 (154th) in 2025 to 0.545 (14th) this season.

His performance throughout the season also reflects the same.

Of the 15 starts he has had so far this season, he has made the cut in 12. He won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson 2026. It was his first win since his 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am title. Wyndham Clark then followed it with a solo 3rd finish at the Memorial Tournament and a T11 at the RBC Canadian Open.

Wyndham Clark had a nervous breakdown during the 2025 US Open. After missing the cut, he was smashing lockers at Oakmont. However, it wasn’t just drama. Instead, he defined it as a wake-up call. Now, he looks at this year’s US Open as an opportunity for redemption. And he has some good shots in his arsenal to help him with that.

“I’ve been able to hit draws into wins. Straight balls, big cuts, small cuts. Like, I never used to have that. I was kind of one-dimensional, and now I have so many more shots,” he said.

For instance, he can now shape a ball both ways. This could come in handy when the relentless Atlantic winds make it challenging to navigate the U.S. Open 2026 course. Also, fast greens are a concern at Shinnecock Hills that both Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy highlighted, but Clark’s improved approach to the greens will be useful to control the ball on fast greens. His improved swing means that he will be able to improve his driving accuracy, too, especially since the course has generous fairways. Thus, there will be fewer punishments from the thick rough.

As those new shot-making options become increasingly important at Shinnecock Hills, Wyndham Clark’s turnaround appears to be about much more than mechanics. After admitting that self-correcting his swing led to bad habits, the former U.S. Open champion now heads into the year’s third major with a rebuilt game and renewed confidence.