Wyndham Clark opened the 2026 U.S. Open with an impressive six-under-par 64 and backed it up with a one-under 69 to maintain his sole lead into the weekend at Shinnecock Hills.
His success, however, isn’t just the result of a couple of good rounds. Rather, it’s the byproduct of months of work that he put in with his coach, Patrick Coyner — director of golf instruction at Cherry Hills Country Club and a GOLF Top 100 Teacher.
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Rebuilding Clark’s swing
The pair began working together in September 2025, and according to Coyner, Clark had picked up a few bad habits that caused him to drift away from the mechanics that helped him win his first major title, the 2023 U.S. Open. One of the biggest issues, he says, stemmed from Clark’s lead wrist.
“His lead wrist had really gotten into a lot of extension,” Coyner says. “So his backswing got really long and the clubface was more open.”
From here, Clark’s shaft would get steep in transition, and as a result, he would get very narrow. This forced him to back out of it, which created a lot of spine tilt away from the target and compensations through impact.
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“Being that tilted and that stuck, he couldn’t hit the shots that he was trying to hit,” Coyner says. “So he either hit a big high, right miss or he would stall and flip it.”
This frustrating two-way miss wasn’t just killing Clark’s consistency; it was also diminishing his confidence. According to Coyner, Clark struggled to control his start lines and often found himself preparing for mistakes rather than committing to his target.
“He almost had to improvise for the shot the thought would happen,” Coyner says. “He was more so playing for errors.”
Coyner’s plan to get him back on track was simple.
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“We really just regained some structure in his lead wrist. We shortened the arm swing, and we added a lot of width to it,” Coyner says.
Since making these changes, Clark has more control over his clubface and ball flight. While he still makes a massive turn, his arm swing is shorter and the face is in a better position.
Back to basics
As the U.S. Open approached, the focus shifted from rebuilding the swing to maximizing performance — particularly off the tee.
“The focus right now is on driving the ball as straight as we can,” Coyner says.
A key piece of that effort was improving Clark’s alignment. By refining his visuals and start lines, Coyner helped Clark trust what he was seeing. Coyner even brought their string (typically reserved for the practice green) out on the range to use as an alignment aid.
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“It helped him get used to what it looks like and feels like to be aimed properly,” he says.
Reinforcing the idea that sometimes it’s the simplest fundamentals that have the biggest impact.
Preparing for Shinnecock
Just as important as their setup work this week was their preparation for Shinnecock’s notoriously demanding conditions.
Coyner, Clark and his caddie, Dave Pelekoudas, used the practice rounds to study wind patterns and landing areas to analyze how different misses would play depending on the upcoming forecast.
As they devised their course strategy, identifying where he could afford to miss became a major priority for Clark and his team.
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“Figuring out the best places to miss is really an important part,” Coyner says.
They were so detailed in their preparation that they even mapped out how changing wind directions from one round to the next would affect recovery shots around the greens.
“Understanding how wind affects chips and pitches and putts is probably just as important as understanding how much it’s going to affect your full swings,” Coyner says.
By knowing which misses would leave manageable up-and-down opportunities — and which areas had to be avoided at all costs — Clark entered the week with complete trust in his game and a clear game plan.
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“I think he showed up Thursday knowing that he was really comfortable, no matter what the course was going to throw at him,” Coyner says. “And that’s a big part of being committed.”
And after entering the weekend with the solo lead, it’s safe to say their work is paying off.
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