'How Many Wins Have You Had?' - Laura Davies On Wyndham Clark's Rory McIlroy Comments

Dame Laura Davies says Rory McIlroy should ask Wyndham Clark how many wins he has after the US Open champion was quoted as saying he wants to prove he is better than McIlroy.

Davies was asked about those comments at this week's Ryder Cup, where she is working as a broadcaster for Sky Sports.

“I have the utmost respect for Rory – he is one of the 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," Clark said last week, speaking to the Golf Channel's Golf Today program.

"I 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."

It's a quote that Sky Sports' Dharmesh Sheth suggested Luke Donald would put up in the European team room this week before asking Dame Laura Davies her views on it.

She replied: "Yeah well I hadn't seen that, my only answer would be 'How many wins have you had, how many wins have I had?'

"That's how you judge yourself as a professional golfer, how many wins have you got?

"You can be a great golfer and you can earn lots of money in this game, but it's all about the wins, and at the moment Wyndham Clark, he might have loads of wins come the end of his career, I know he's younger than Rory but at the moment I really don't see that one at all."

Clark was asked about his comments on Tuesday by Sky Sports and once again backed himself, albeit saying they were taken out of context.

"Well I think some of the stuff was taken a little out of context," Clark explained.

"I mean by no means has my career been as good as Rory McIlroy, he's one of the best players and I said that in that interview that I have tons of respect and I think he's still one of the best players but at the same time, I mean I think I'm better than every player.

"How could you not think that? If I don't think that then what am I doing out here? So it had nothing to do with any sort of arrogance or cockiness, it was more of I'm just trying to have self belief in myself.

"It's always funny a comment like that is somehow i'll end up playing him in singles and maybe I'll get a slice of humble pie but at the same time I really think I can beat anyone when I'm playing good and i'm sure anyone out her thinks the same thing."

Wyndham Clark currently holds two PGA Tour wins, with one of them being this year's US Open at Los Angeles Country Club. The American beat Rory McIlroy by a single stroke.

Clark makes his Ryder Cup debut this week at Marco Simone in Rome after automatically qualifying for Zach Johnson's team. He may well get the chance to prove himself against Rory McIlroy in one of the five sessions.

Clark, currently ranked 10th in the world, played alongside Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns, and Brooks Koepka in a Tuesday practice round, perhaps giving an insight into who he'll be paired with in the doubles sessions over the first two days.

Scheffler and Burns are best friends and have partnered each other previously at last year's Presidents Cup. Could this mean Clark will be playing alongside Brooks Koepka? Perhaps, we'll wait and see.