The Wyndham Clark Ping-putter deal could not have been timed better

Wyndham Clark can owe at least part of his US Open title to that Ping Scottsdale TEC put it he exclaimed in his post-round interview on Sunday.

Clark has a deal with Ping now, but he initially switched to the stick in March without a contract. Ping announced a unique deal with Clark on the eve of the US Open last week, the first for the company in more than 50 years of sponsoring Tour players.

Now, the company has its first major win in more than a decade and the potential to disrupt the gear industry.

For the first two months that Clark had the white, center-shaft barrel in his bag, he did so without prompting. It was a bit of a wild ride to get there.

The now two-time major winner’s previous equipment contract with Titleist expired at the end of last year, making him one of the most high-profile agents without equipment to begin 2026.

Clark joked at the Memorial earlier this month that he was “meeting” different clubs earlier in the year as he cycled past both motorists and goons. With the flat club, he settled on a LAB Golf DF3 at the end of last season, moving away from the counterbalanced Odyssey Jailbird with which he won the 2023 US Open, but it wasn’t long before he changed things up.

First, he started playing the glove upside down. He then bought a new Bettinardi gauge at his home course pro shop and played it at Players. Two rounds later, Clark went to the Ping Tour truck to do some work on his G440 Max 3-wood.

PING Scottsdale TEC Ally Blue Onset CB Putter Custom

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“During a discussion in Houston about his equipment, we noted that he was using an initial center shaft putter and how we just introduced two new hammers to our Scottsdale TEC line,” Ping Player Development Manager Dylan Goodwin, who worked with Clark on the key, told GOLF. “We explained our technology and philosophy on torque. He liked the look of both models and the principle behind them. He asked us to build them both to his specifications at the time.”

Unlike the LAB or Bettinardi Antidote models that Clark used, Ping’s Scottsdale TEC Onset models are not zero-torque meters. Instead of the shaft going through the head’s center of gravity, Ping places the shaft directly in front of the CG to create stability by “pulling” most of the mass.

Clark tried both Start of Scottsdale TEC Ally Blue and Ketsch Onset models and found the Ally Blue, with a slightly more balanced face design with five degrees of toe hang versus the Ketsch’s 15, suits his stroke better. Specifically, he noted an improved starting line, fixing a bug on the left.

He put a standard 35″ Ally Blue Onset in play in Houston and used it for two events before switching to the Ping truck at the RBC Heritage. There, Clark asked for a new one Ally Blue Beginning CB to match the same counterbalanced spec Odyssey Jailbird 380 he used to win the 2023 US Open.

Clark was part of perhaps the wildest dressage story of 2023 when he claimed his first two victories, including the major at Los Angeles Country Club, with a Jailbird counterweighted with lead tape that covered the entire sole. Rickie Fowler was the first player to switch to that type of buildand Clark asked for “Rickie’s build.” Both players, along with Keegan Bradley, a veteran header, won that year.

At the time, the Jailbird was a potentially forgotten head of the Odyssey, but within a summer it had become the company’s flagship and was back in production. Clark wanted that same heavy feeling again.

“We originally built a standard 370g head at 38″ with a SuperStroke 3.0 17 grip,” said Goodwin. “However, he felt this setup lacked the head feel and control he prefers. To address this, we built two new options: one with a standard head weight and a 17g tip weight, and another with a 400g head that features tungsten in the soleplate. Since Wyndham adds lead tape to the sole regardless of the initial build, he found the 8 tape heavy, but the 400 (which ended up at 400g with the lead tape) was perfect.”

The Clark excelled with added stability from both axle and CG placement, as well as overall weight. It was shown in the statistics.

“Ever since I moved into this Ping, it’s been amazing,” Clark said at the RBC Canadian Open two weeks ago. “Now I feel like all the hard work I’ve put into my swing is paying off because when I hit the greens or hit it close, I’m actually making shots where maybe at the beginning of the year I wasn’t.”

After finishing 4th in the field at Shinnecock in SG: Putting, Clark has moved up from 155th on the PGA Tour in stat, where he was losing .725 strokes per round, to 43rd, winning .239. He is also 5th in batting average with 1.702.

“I’ve been playing ugly golf the last two days, but my putting and short game kept me in it,” Clark told NBC’s Mike Tirico on Sunday after hoisting the US Open trophy.

Whether Clark’s upgrade will lead to the same Ally Blue Onset fever that surrounded Jailbird three years ago is unknown, but it’s safe to assume that at least a few have come off the shelves in the last few hours.

Not since TaylorMade’s Scottie Scheffler signed in 2022 has a company landed a sponsorship deal at a better time than Ping.

Wyndham Clark Shooter Specifications:

Ping Scottsdale TEC Ally Blue Onset CB
Attic: 3˚
Lie: 70˚
Length: 38″
Head weight: 400g (tip weight 17g + lead bar 13g)
Insert: PEBAX
Grip: SuperStroke Tour 3.0 17″