Wyndham Clark Confirms LIV Golf Rumors After Pebble Beach Win

A day after he shot 60 and just minutes after being named champion of the shortened AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Wyndham Clark was asked about the longstanding rumors tying his name to LIV Golf. 

Not only did the defending U.S. Open champion confirm the rumors, he went on to explain that he isn’t out on the idea of potentially joining the PGA Tour’s for-now rival circuit.

READ: Honest Confessions About LIV Golf, Putting Respect On Wyndham Clark’s Name, And The Mystery Of Viktor Hovland

Clark claimed that money didn’t play a factor in his decision to turn down LIV for the time being, which probably became much easier to say given that he earned over $3.5 million for his win at Pebble Beach.

“Yeah, there’s definitely some truth. I definitely met with LIV and went through those discussions,” Clark explained. “I ultimately declined going to LIV because I felt like I still have a lot of things left in the tank on the PGA Tour and I wanted to chase records, I wanted to chase world ranking. My dream is to try to be one of the top players in the world if not the top player. I just grew up always imagining winning PGA Tour events. So I ultimately, I chose my legacy over LIV, over LIV and that’s really what it came down to.”

“You know, I don’t know what the future holds with my career and what the PGA Tour and LIV is going to do,” he said. “But at least for this season I am 100 percent set on the PGA Tour and I want to try to get to as high in the world as I possibly can,” he continued.

While his comments will ruffle some feathers among PGA Tour loyalists, it’s refreshing to hear Clark be honest about not knowing what the future in golf holds, which is exactly why he’s keeping his options for a potential move to LIV in a year’s time open.

(Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

Clark isn’t the first well-known player to take this non-committal stance towards the Tour while still teeing it up. 

Xander Schauffele recently made similar comments about why he refuses to firmly plant his flag in PGA Tour territory.

“I’ve just tried to be as honest as possible and I’ve just dodged the question because I’m not going to pledge to the tour,” Schauffele explained. “I’m not going to say, ‘I’m going to play here forever’ or ‘I’m going to go there’, I’ll just say I’m here right now which is a fact.”

The reality in the professional golf world is one that simply continues to change. With negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF still ongoing while Rory McIlroy is calling for a ‘Champions League’ for golf plus LIV making strides of its own, the sport could continue to turn on its head.

Pledging your loyalty to the Tour under the assumption it will be the same a year from now as it is today doesn’t seem like the wisest choice for a player such as Clark, or any player not in the upper of upper echelons on the Tour for that…