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US Open champion Wyndham Clark is hoping to be paired against Rory McIlroy at the Ryder Cup next weekend because he thinks he is better than him. The 44th edition of the tense team matchplay competition gets underway at Rome’s Marco Simone Golf & Country Club next Friday with the USA aiming to defend their title with a first win on European soil in 30 years.
Zach Johnson’s team is littered with big-name stars and can boast three of this year’s Major champions amongst his ranks.
One of those is the lesser-known Clark, who pulled a surprise in June by winning the US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club despite having never previously finished higher than 75th at a major championship.
The 29-year-old clinched his maiden Major with a score of 10 under par, just one shot ahead of world No. 2 McIlroy.
The pair will be on opposite sides once more when Europe host the USA in Italy backed by what will unquestionably be a hostile home crowd. But Wyndham does not appear to be short on confidence and has already claimed that four-time Major winner McIlroy would be his ideal opponent for the Sunday singles round on the final day.
When asked by the Golf Channel what his thoughts would be on facing the Northern Irishman next week, Clark said: “That is exactly who I want, I would love to play Rory.
โI have the utmost respect for Rory – he is one of our great ambassadors of our game. He is obviously one of the best of all time and he is still going so he can be that.
โI have tons of respect for Rory and because of that respect, I also want to beat him. I like to think I am better than him and I want to prove that. I would love to play Rory – I think that would be really fun for the fans too. Long-ball hitters. We have similar games in that respect.
“It would be a little bit of David and Goliath. I am hoping to get that chance. Regardless of who I play, I am really excited. But That one would be a lot of fun.โ
American enjoyed a record 19-9 victory at Whistling Straits two years ago, but the European team will be gunning for revenge. McIlory is not the only big name star that could damage America’s hopes however. Jon Rahm is the current Masters champion and world No. 4 Viktor Hovland has been in scintillating form all season. And it is the Norwegian who Clark feels he still has a score to settle with.
Clarke said: One guy I would love to have a piece of, because the one loss I had in college was to him, is Viktor Hovland. He clipped me on the 18th hole. If there is any competition or anyone I would like another chance at, it would be Viktor.
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โAnd Jon Rahm. I live in Arizona and so does Jon. We play together – there is always trash talk and even when we are having a friendly match we want to make sure we don’t lose to each other, even if we lose to the other guys in the group. We don’t want to lose to each other. Any of those guys would be a lot of fun to play against.โ
While the entire European team competed in last week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, most of the USA side have not competed at a tournament since the Tour Championship ended on August 27.
But Clark is hoping that will mean that the USA side arrive in Rome next week fresher than their hosts. He added: โI like to think we are going to be really fresh. The guys on the European team played all of the playoffs and played one or two more events
I think if anything they might be a little gassed. I am hoping it works in our favour and we are really fresh and excited to be there. Hopefully when it comes to singles, we will be the fresher team and can pull it out.โ
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