Wyndham Clark caddie: Who carries the sticks for the PGA Tour star?

PGA Tour member and former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark has a former professional golfer on his bag.

John Ellis was a standout collegiate golfer at he University of Oregon between 2001 and 2003.

He turned professional immediately after graduation and played primarily on the Canadian Tour.

Ellis won three times in 2008 and even clinched the circuit's order of merit.

But by 2011 he decided that he no longer wanted to pursue the game professionally.

He returned to the University of Oregon in 2016 and served as an assistant coach.

It was there that he met Clark and the rest, as they say, is history.

Clark is now one of the best players in the world and has won three times on the PGA Tour.

That includes his 2023 U.S. Open triumph at Los Angeles Country Club where he saw off Rory McIlroy.

Scroll down to find out more information about Wyndham Clark's caddie...

Background and early career

As mentioned, Ellis attended the University of Oregon where he was a standout player over 2001-2003.

Ellis achieved notable success on the Canadian Tour and in 2008 won the order of merit.

He won the Stockton Sports Commission Classic, Corona Mazatlan Mexican PGA Championship and the Telus Edmonton Open.

That saw him crack the world's top 250 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Ellis carried on playing professional golf for several more seasons, with his best finish coming at the 2010 Frys.com Open (T24).

He has played in two majors (2008 U.S. Open, 2011 U.S. Open) but missed the cut on both occasions.

In 2011, he left his professional career behind and five years later returned to the University of Oregon to serve as an assistant to the men's team under Casey Martin.

At that time, Clark was in his senior year and hit it off with Ellis immediately. 

Martin explained the pair's relationship to Golfweek: "John did an unbelievable job for a guy that's never coached before. He and Wyndham hit it off.

"He has an amazing ability to kind of tease Wyndham and to get his point across without being overly serious. He absolutely nailed it."

Clark turned professional in 2017 and earned his first PGA Tour card in 2018. 

Career highlights

Their career highlight was undoubtedly winning the U.S. Open in 2023 at Los Angeles Country Club.

Clark - who played in the final group alongside Rickie Fowler - held off a final round charge from Rory McIlroy.

The golfer was quick to pay tribute to Ellis for helping him get over the line.

"He's a great caddie, and he's had opportunities to caddie for other people and he turned it down because he wanted to be there for me," Clark said.

"I owe a lot to him. I feel like John is meant to be my caddie, but it's so much more than just a business relationship. We’re really close and good friends, and I'm close with his family, and he's close with mine."

Personal insights and relationship with Clark

After Clark achieved his first PGA Tour win at the Wells Fargo Championship in May 2023, Ellis said Clark had the potential to reach the very top of elite men's professional golf.

"He has the work ethic to be the best player in the world," he said. "To win against this field, on this course, the next step will be feeling comfortable in majors, but the sky is the limit."

Since then, Clark has been a mainstay the world's top 20.

Ellis once took part in a Reddit Q&A with the PGA Tour, and one user asked: "Be honest - does he get on your nerves?"

He replied: "I spend as much time with him as I do my wife, so yes."

Another asked how disagreements between the two get resolved.

"I usually gotta take the blame or we'll go over it and be like, ‘This is what I was thinking. It's on me,'" he said.

On-course duties

Ellis spends more than 200 days a year travelling with Clark.

He'll get to a tournament venue a week before the event is due to begin and uses Mondays to study the course.

Aside from offering help on the greens, providing yardages and informing Clark of the wind direction, Ellis is always on hand to provide his player with his favourite snacks.

Clark's go-to on the course is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on gluten-free bread and Bobo's bars.

Does John Ellis still play golf?

Not as much as he used to.

Ellis said in a previous interview that he probably plays around 15 times a year. 

Personal life and social media

Ellis can be found on Instagram @johnellis_16.

He posts regularly and unsurprisingly, the photographs tend to be of golf courses and his family.

In an interview he revealed his favourite course to play is Augusta, and his go-to music in the car is country.

His favourite artists are Garth Brooks and Old Dominion.