[Photo: Kate McShane]
Wyndham Clark hasn’t just been playing against the field on the final day at the US Open. He’s had to hold his own against a vocal and partisan crowd at Shinnecock Hills that has been not just rooting for his rivals but cheering against him.
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On several holes during the final round, police have had to escort spectators off the course who were openly heckling Clark.
Cops are booting people for shouting “Don’t choke Wyndham!” as he sets up to his shot. This young man got bounced for saying it before Clark’s tee shot at No. 4 pic.twitter.com/M1d1ZO687u
— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) June 21, 2026
Carrying a six-shot lead into the final round, Clark had been the target of vitriol from the first tee. Fans greeted him with a smattering of applause when his name was announced, the quiet then broken by a spectator yelling “Canada hates you”, a reference to Clark wearing a USA hockey jersey during last week’s RBC Canadian Open.
After hitting his tee shot, fans then cheered “get in the bunker”, a refrain repeated throughout the round, fans openly cheering when he missed greens and failed to hole putts.
In part, Clark was the victim of being paired in the final twosome with fan-favourite Scottie Scheffler, who is celebrating his 30th birthday and hoping to pull off a comeback win that would complete the career Grand Slam.
As the jeers continued – “Nobody likes you” and “Boogeyman’s coming” among the random comments – Clark started to struggle with his game. He bogeyed the first hole and then made a bad bogey on the par-5 fifth when he under-hit a chip shot, and received more heckles in the process.
Why the venom towards Clark? It comes largely from fans reactions to some of the outbursts he’s had in the past year. The lingering image of him throwing a club and nearly hitting a volunteer at the 2025 PGA Championship remains, as does the infamous incident at last year’s US Open. That’s when Clark raged after a poor round and damaged locker in the Oakmont clubhouse. His actions caused the club to write a formal rebuke to Clark, stating that he would not be welcome back to the club when it hosted future US Opens.
Even so, the level of abuse Clark has received this week has excessive, sadly reminiscent of the Long Island crowds’ reaction to the Europeans during the Ryder Cup last September at Bethpage Black.
