US Open champion Wyndham Clark overcame some of the worst treatment of an American on home soil by the New York crowd at Shinnecock Hills as he closed out a wire-to-wire victory on Monday morning AEST.
Across the opening three rounds, the numbers in the galleries had been lower than normal due to the famous venue’s isolated location on Long Island as well as competing events like the FIFA World Cup and the celebrations from the New York Knicks’ drought breaking NBA championship.
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Those who did make the pilgrimage out to what the USGA have called one of golf’s great “cathedrals” came in full voice for the opening round, however.
Clark started the final day with a six-shot lead.
Only Australia’s Greg Norman had ever blown such a sizeable advantage after 54 holes of a major championship – when he infamously collapsed at the 1996 Masters.
Thirty years on from one of golf’s great tragedies, the always vocal New York patrons wanted a sequel.
Clark made himself public enemy number one a year ago at Oakmont.
After missing the cut, the 2023 champion destroyed two lockers in a fit of rage.
As a result, he copped a ban from the 123-year-old country club, which is an official national historic landmark in the United States.
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Clark has tried to atone for his bad behaviour since.
He took anger management classes afterwards and has repeatedly apologised when asked about the incident in interviews.
But the spectators at Shinnecock did not forget.
They came wanting to see world No.1 Scottie Scheffler complete the career grand slam, and so they had the perfect villain, whose demise they wanted to help inflict.
“Man, they definitely didn’t want me to win. It’s pretty rare in an Open Championship or a major to have fans kind of boo against your shots or cheer for bad shots,” Clark said in his post-tournament press conference.
“Yeah, I mean, that was tough, but I also like — I mean, sometimes being the underdog is nice. I was in ‘23, and I kind of did the same thing. Anytime someone said something negative to me, I replaced it with something positive. You know, 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.
“Yeah, it was tough, but I’m proud of myself that I battled through. 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.”
Wyndham Clark of the United States poses with the trophy following the final round of the 126th U.S. OPEN at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.Source: AFP
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Some patrons were kicked out of Shinnecock for the abuse they hurled in Clark’s direction.
Comments like ‘crash and burn Wyndham’, ‘get in the bunker’ and ‘don’t choke Wyndham’ were not well received by local police.
It was an issue that the 32-year-old knew was coming.
Of course, the Oakmont locker room incident put a target on his back.
But the New York crowds have only grown their reputation for being brutal in recent events.
The final day at Shinnecock did not compare to the abuse the Europeans received during last year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
Rory McIlroy received a reminder of that week when he issued a savage response to a heckler during his final round this morning.
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But with a storm of nationalism created by US President Donald Trump’s attendance, the vile behaviour of the home patrons was not surprising even though it was widely condemned.
This time around was startling, however, because Clark is one of their own.
“I think it’s the worst I’ve ever seen a player treated, when you consider it was an American player on American soil,” commentator Brandel Chamblee said on Live from the US Open.
“Yes, I’ve seen foreign players, I’ve seen Colin Montgomerie get jeered over here in a Ryder Cup and in a major championship. I’ve seen Brian Harmon get jeered at The Open Championship on foreign soil.
“But I’ve never seen a player on American soil get so jeered.”
“I don’t remember it being present from the first tee on with every single shot he hit,” Chamblee added.
“There were times when he was standing over the shot, in the bunker on four, I heard people yelling ‘hit it in the bunker’, ‘miss the green’, cheering for every little miscue that he had today.
“I have never actually seen anything like that.
“He made that putt at six and there was relatively little cheering. When he missed the putt at 17, there were cheers.
“To be able to put that out of our head, you’re trying to win a US Open, you’re trying to control your nerves (is so impressive).
“I’ve never seen anybody have to deal with that element in a major championship to the extent that I saw with Wyndham today.”
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Clark certainly has new found sympathies for members of the European team in the Ryder Cup and the international team in the Presidents Cup – who will be led by Australian Geoff Ogilvy at Medinah in September.
But Scheffler was not overly sympathetic towards his rival’s plight.
The world No.1 fell four shots short of his final round playing partner.
He admitted that at times the tense atmosphere felt like it went too far.
“I mean, the crowd was tough today. I mean, New Yorkers, they are tough people. There was a good turnout from the fans. 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. That felt a bit much to me,” Scheffler said.
“But at the end of the day, I can’t control fan behaviour. Being in the arena is not for everybody.
“You know, there’s been crowds that have been for me in my career; there’s been crowds that have been significantly against me in my career.
“I think Portrush was a scenario for me where Rory is in his hometown. Or not his hometown; he’s in Ireland, not far from where he grew up. Crowds can be tough.
“Being in the arena is not for everybody, and I think it shows a lot about Wyndham, how he handled not only this golf course but I think the crowd today as well and is a well-deserving champion.”
Wyndham Clark is congratulated by Scottie Scheffler after winning the 126th U.S. OPEN at Shinnecock Hills Golf ClubSource: AFP
The issue certainly made Scheffler grumpy, however, as he shut down a follow-up question from a journalist and stressed that Clark’s treatment did not cross one line in particular.
“Guys, I’m not going to sit here and talk about fans the whole time. Sorry,” he replied.
“I’m a big proponent of controlling what I can control on the golf course. Like I said, you know, you like it when fans are cheering for you. I think when fans start to cheer against other players, albeit in a respectful manner, I think when it gets too far is when you have people screaming in guys’ swings. That didn’t happen today.
“But that’s as much as I want to elaborate. You can keep asking the questions if you want. I don’t think I’m going to have much better for you than that. If you want to talk about golf, I’m happy to talk about golf.”
The animosity was not new for Clark, however.
In 2023, he was also not the crowd favourite as the Los Angeles locals tried to will Californian Rickie Fowler to a maiden major triumph.
On that occasion, Clark said that he and his sports psychologist Julie Elion – who featured during the broadcast this week – came up with a plan of every time he heard Rickie’s name being called out to use it as a trigger to “be cocky” and think of his goals.
Clark was not as brash this time around, but adopted a similar approach.
“Yeah, similar. Kind of remind myself of my process. Then I knew there was going to be a lot of whether it’s negativity towards me or cheers for Scottie, so yeah, there was a very similar thing,” he said.
“Anytime they said that, I replaced it with something positive either about myself or my game or what’s going to happen. So it wasn’t necessarily the motto of be cocky, but it was similar to that.”
The Oakmont incident has certainly humbled him.
It took a lot of work to lift himself off the canvas after hitting rock bottom.
“I mean, after what happened at Oakmont was obviously the lowest point. People probably didn’t see what happened after, but you know, it was a really tough two, three days for me. I was in a dark place, didn’t really go outside much. It was a really negative, dark place,” Clark said.
“Yeah, I mean, at that moment I just felt a lot of my career, world ranking, reputation, everything just dwindling. That’s a terrible feeling.
“Yeah, I would say in that moment I definitely didn’t think I’d be here this year doing this, but with that being said, I did a lot of work in the off-season on my golf swing, on the things I needed to do. I would say as this year, I started hitting it better and started seeing the results, then yeah, I started gaining my confidence.
“Coming into this, I really did have the feeling I could win, because I played amazing at Memorial. I played, I don’t know, okay golf in Canada and still had a chance to win. I said, if I bring my A-game, I can definitely win this thing.”
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Clark’s work away from the golf course has been just as important in his turnaround.
The anger management sessions have helped him become a calmer figure.
“Man, I’m not getting angry as much as I used to. I think I get frustrated. My anger has kind of gone away, which is a huge blessing. I’d say the frustration is kind of obviously there. Anyone gets it in golf,” he said.
“Yeah, the anger, I’m not as angry as I used to be.”
“I think it’s a combination of things off the course being great,” he added.
“My game feels like it’s in a good position. I’m just happier where I’m at in life. Then I think, you know, last year I got too caught up in things that really didn’t matter.”
Now, Clark is hoping that he can put the Oakmont saga behind him.
The two-time major champion does not want to the PGA Tour’s villain.
He is eager to simply let his game to do the talking going forward.
“I mean, I sure hope it closes the door on it,” Clark 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 them, but I hope I don’t become the heel of the PGA,” he said.
“I guess if I am, any press is good press, right?”