[Photo: Mike Mulholland]<\/p>\n
The opening chapter of sports psychologist Julie Elion\u2019s new book, Mastering Your Mental Game<\/a>, describes her client Wyndham Clark\u2019s win in the 2023 US Open, and their work in helping him get there. At Los Angeles Country Club, Clark had to fend off his own doubts and a crowd that was cheering for playing partner Rickie Fowler. That he persevered to win his first major was a tangible sign of his growth, even if Elion knew the work was ongoing.<\/p>\n RELATED: The golf world doesn\u2019t know what to do with Wyndham Clark<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cSelf-improvement \u2013 be it in golf or in life \u2013 isn\u2019t always going to be on a smooth, upward trajectory,\u201d Elion writes. \u201cIn fact, it\u2019s most often not.\u201d<\/p>\n Elion then goes on to reference the low point of Clark\u2019s 2025 season: a missed cut at US Open at Oakmont, and a tantrum in the player locker room<\/a> that led to a temporary ban from the club. If nothing else, there are photos of a disfigured locker to underscore Elion\u2019s point that progress isn\u2019t linear.<\/p>\n But she could also point to what\u2019s happened since. In 2026, Clark is coming off a win at the C.J Cup at Byron Nelson, and is back contending at the US Open at Shinnecock \u2013 leading by four shots during the second round.<\/p>\n These are not contradictory concepts, she says. The same golfer who unloaded on a locker at Oakmont, and weeks earlier hurled his driver in anger at the PGA Championship, can also be the golfer faithful to his work with a leading sports psychologist. It\u2019s no different than a golfer who has worked diligently on their putting, but is still prone to the occasional three-putt.<\/p>\n \u201cOur highest highs can be followed by some pretty low lows,\u201d Elion writes. \u201cWyndham Clark took a long time to begin examining his life, and my belief he was rewarded for doing so. But for any of us, this is a process.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked earlier in the week, Clark said the Oakmont incident was something \u201che deeply regretted\u2026 and there were so many good lessons in that that really taught me a bunch. I\u2019ve really come a long way\u201d.<\/p>\n Specifically, Elion has said she and the golfer have reframed one of their core tenets of setting \u201cdaily goals\u201d and focusing more on \u201cmission statements\u201d. She said the difference is less outcome-focused and more channelling a specific emotional state.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery one of my clients \u2013 not everyone, but pretty much everyone \u2013 sticks to a protocol of, \u2018What am I trying to feel today?\u2019 It might be confidence, it might be free, it might be no leaderboards, it might be, \u2018I don\u2019t like who I\u2019m playing with, and I\u2019m not gonna let it bother me,\u2019\u201d Elion said last month on the Subpar podcast<\/a>. \u201cIt could be anything. But like I said earlier, I just try to stay on them to make sure they\u2019re paying attention, not to just technical.\u201d<\/p>\n How well Clark can manage his emotions during a challenging weekend at Shinnecock is still a valid question. Contending in a US Open is an added stress, and the first time he did it, he had the benefit of low expectations. But a regression doesn\u2019t negate the work he\u2019s done to this point, only that there\u2019s always more to do.<\/p>\n