​Wyndham Clark treats Mondays as dedicated technical sessions as he tunes his game in preparation for another big week on the tour. This pattern held true again at the 2026 Open Championship, with the reigning U.S. Open champion out on the range at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, calmly working through his swing while armed with an unusual training aid—a coat hanger. The scene drew instant attention, not just because a coat hanger is an unconventional tool on a major championship range, but also because Clark himself candidly acknowledged that his swing had slipped a bit.
You won’t catch me doing a lot of that stuff the rest of the week, Clark explained. My swing’s gotten a little off. I’ve been striking it a bit poorly, especially on Sunday—or, to be honest, just yesterday. The coat hanger, he clarified, is used to help with wrist angle, fostering a bit more inflection in his left wrist so he can square the clubface more consistently. That’s the approach he’s taking, even if it looks unusual to casual observers.
The clip of Clark on the range quickly became a hot topic on social media, a reminder that major championships bring out moments and routines that attract attention beyond the fairways and greens. Yet Clark’s admission that his swing hasn’t been at its best still stands out, particularly given his recent form. In his six starts prior to the Open, he hadn’t finished worse than a tie for 13th—an impressive stretch that makes his Monday adjustments all the more noteworthy.
Still, Monday is designed for this kind of work. It’s a chance for Clark to recapture the feel in his swing and build momentum ahead of his first major appearance since his U.S. Open victory at Shinnecock Hills last month. The Open at Royal Birkdale provides an extra layer of anticipation as Clark aims to translate his steady run of results into a possible shot at another major title.
As for the coat hanger itself, Clark described it as a throwback training aid, one that has stood the test of time for good reason. “It’s like an old, old training aid,” he said. “People have been using it forever. I didn’t come up with it, but I decided to try it. My swing coach and I have been working on it. I get my wrist cupped, and I’ve been trying to flatten it out. I feel like that’s the best way to achieve that.” The specifics of his routine remain between him and his coach, and whether the hanger travels from home or ends up being borrowed from a local facility in England isn’t something he’s eager to disclose.
On this particular Monday, Clark typically hits a modest window of 15 to 20 shots with the coat hanger before transitioning to the next phase of his warm-up. The exact origin of the hanger for this week—whether it’s a personal item or something borrowed in the moment—remains a mystery, but the purpose is clear: refine the wrist action to help square the face more reliably, a crucial factor under Open conditions.
Clark enters the week as one of the favorites, a status grounded in a combination of his recent results and his status as a former major winner. If, as they say in the sport, great weeks are built on small, repeatable adjustments, then that coat hanger could end up being a symbolic tool in his bag of secrets as the rounds unfold. The unusual image on the practice range may fade from the initial shock value as play gets underway, but its potential impact—helping him maintain tempo, control, and precision on a challenging links layout—could be a quiet but meaningful factor in his pursuit of back-to-back major glory.
Cameron Jourdan, an assistant editor at Golfweek, covers college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour, and a wide range of golf topics. He invites readers to follow his reporting on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan) for more golf coverage. This piece originally appeared on Golfweek, exploring why Wyndham Clark chose a coat hanger on the range at the British Open and what it signals about his approach to mastering the swing for this major week.