How Clark quietened a US Open crowd that rooted for him to lose

On Saturday, the new US Open champions complained that fans had largely deserted the course by the time he was finishing his third round. On Sunday, he might’ve wished they had stayed home.

Wyndham Clark poses with the U.S. Open Championship Trophy at Shinnecock Hills. “Anytime someone said something negative to me, I replaced it with something positive,” Clark said.

Wyndham Clark heard it all day from the Shinnecock Hills crowd. Fans shouted for his golf ball to go in the bunker and the rough. One was ejected after yelling: “Don’t choke, Wyndham!” He quieted them with a 52-foot putt to tap-in range for his second US Open title in four years, avoiding the worst collapse in tournament history after his six-stroke lead dwindled to one.

Oh, how this anybody-but-Wyndham crowd would’ve relished that.

New York loves a winner, but the one these fans really wanted to see on Sunday was Scottie Scheffler, who was chasing the career Grand Slam, or Sam Burns, who lost by a stroke. Not Clark.

Call it backlash for him damaging a locker in a fit of rage at Oakmont Country Club while missing the cut last year in the US Open. Or for saying on TV that being surrounded by kids playing in the Masters Par 3 Contest was “great birth control.” Or even for winning his first US Open title in 2023 over fan favourites Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler.

Or maybe the folks spending their Father’s Day at Shinnecock just wanted to see a little drama after Clark built leads of two, four and six strokes after each of the first three days.

“Man, they definitely didn’t want me to win,” Clark said.

On Saturday, he complained that fans had largely deserted the course by the time he was finishing his third round. On Sunday, he might’ve wished they had stayed home.

It’s rare for a golfer in the lead at a major championship — or any golfer for that matter — to be the subject of such derision. It happened to McIlroy at the Ryder Cup last September at Bethpage Black, also on Long Island, but that was a team competition. McIlroy was the star of the winning European side and U.S. fans went overboard in letting him have it.

Clark said he tried to see himself in an “underdog” role on Sunday, as he did in 2023.

“Anytime someone said something negative to me, I replaced it with something positive,” Clark said. “Some of it’s self-deserved. I kind of brought it on myself, but I also get it, too. Scottie was going for the career Grand Slam, and it hasn’t happened very often.” 

Even so, the animosity appeared to rattle Clark early in his round. He bogeyed the second, sixth and seventh holes as fans threw their support behind Scheffler. They cheered Clark’s mistakes while showering Scheffler with affection — even serenading the four-time major champion, who turned 30 on Sunday, with “Happy Birthday.” It was “Get in the bunker!” for Clark and “We love you Scottie!” for Scheffler, who tied for fourth at even par.

“You like seeing the fans cheer for you. I think sometimes it can get a little too much when, you know, balls are kind of going off greens and you start hearing cheers,” Scheffler said. “That felt a bit much to me.” 

Anti-Clark fans cheered when he flared a shot under a pair of trash containers on the fourth hole and again when his shot on the seventh hole landed in a bunker.

“Wyndham gonna lose ‘em,” a man said as Clark walked to his ball on 10.

“Get in the fescue!” a fan yelled after he teed off on 13. When his second shot landed on a precarious part of the green, the crowd chanted “Go! Go! Go!” and gleefully roared as the golf ball rolled off the back.

Clark won over the crowd, at least for a moment, on the 16th hole — punching out from the tall grass and pumped his fist after nailing a 24-foot birdie putt to go to 5-under par. For the moment, he held a two-stroke lead and the crowd’s hopes of a different winner were fading.

But the taunts returned on the next hole as Clark backed off of his 8-foot par putt and then missed it. As Clark walked to the 18th tee, scratching his head with his hat in hand, a fan in the grandstand sang “Under Pressure.” “Yeah, it was tough, but I’m proud of myself that I battled through,” Clark said. “I mean, things really could have gotten away from me. I stood tough. Yeah, I would have liked to have won by more, but as long as you win, it doesn’t matter.” 

Long before he smashed the locker, won a single trophy or had any inkling he’d play in a U.S. Open one day, golf for Clark was a test of patience, will and temperament.

“We’ve dealt with his anger issues since he was that high,” said Clark’s father, Randall, explaining the journey as he held his hand about hip high. “It’s because golf is not a game of perfection. And he wants to be perfect.” 

Clark, 32, was open about his struggles at his last U.S. Open victory in 2023, explaining his mother’s death 10 years earlier had left a scar and that the rage came out most viscerally in the aftermath of missed golf shots.

His felt like a simple tale about overcoming obstacles and personal growth.

But that journey is never truly finished.

His demons came back into full view a year ago when he smashed a locker at Oakmont after missing the cut at the U.S. Open. He has since apologised and the suits at Oakmont, appalled at first, have moved on, as well.

The fans in New York clearly haven’t. It made for an awkward stroll across the course Sunday, where Clark was paired with top-ranked Scottie Scheffler.

“It’s been part of every question in every interview for the last 12 months,” his dad said of the constant rehashing of the locker incident, all of which Clark has handled with patience. “I do think it’s gone on too long.” 

In response to Oakmont, Clark has paid for the repairs to the locker. He has given money to charity and participated in anger-management courses.

He did not feel much love on Long Island.

“A little disappointing,” said Randall Clark, who took a red-eye flight from Denver to be there for the win. “At the same time, he’s a warrior. He ‘bowed up and said ‘I’m going to figure this out and still get through.’ It’s too bad. We’ve seen this before in the New York area with the Ryder Cup.” 

Now, the question is — will this show of grit in the face of adversity give Clark a fresh start? Or will it always be about the locker and some meltdown lurking around every corner?

“I sure hope it closes the door on it,” he said. “I figured in my mind that this would maybe be the last time just because it’s one year removed. I’ll probably always get (those questions). But I hope I don’t become the heel of the PGA.

“I guess if I am, any press is good press, right?”

Associated Press