US Open Fan Fiasco: Why Are Golf Crowds Turning So Toxic?
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Boo. Wyndham Clark.Boooooo.Boooooooooo.Yeah, that happened. Wyndham Clark, your U.S. Open champ, got the full New York welcome. Felt like he was wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey, not a golf shirt. Like he stole the last cookie from Tate’s, a local joint. Some real garbage went down – locker smashing, club throwing, rule bending, some dumb comments. And to top it off, his playing partner was Scottie Scheffler, going for a career grand slam. On his 30th birthday. On Father’s Day. Talk about bad timing.Clark himself said it. “Man, they definitely didn’t want me to win.” He’s not wrong. It’s rare in a major to hear fans booing your shots or cheering for your misses.Maybe a player isn’t the crowd favorite. Fine. But outright hate? In golf? There are no away teams. No home teams. So why the hell are people showing up to a golf event just to be miserable? How did we even get here?This whole thing feels like it’s only gonna get worse, doesn’t it? The lid’s off the box.Look, I’m not completely clueless. I get some of the answers. The urge to be loud. The desperate need to go viral. But seriously, if you’re that way inclined, hit me up at nick.piastowski@golf.com and share your brilliant thoughts. Or even better, offer a real solution. I’ve said it before: ban the phones. It works at the Masters. The patrons there mostly act right.Or you can just boo me in a message. I’ve heard worse.As we look back at that U.S. Open week at Shinnecock, let’s call that observation number one. We’ll aim for 49 more. And to lighten the mood a bit, we’ll throw in some Billy Joel. Long Island’s favorite son.
The Shinnecock Scene: More Than Just Boos
This whole spectacle was fueled by Goldberg’s bagels and coffee, by the way. A nice, normal start to the day, which makes the rest of it even more bizarre.Clark, though, he seemed to get it. He knew why fans weren’t exactly chanting his name. He even joked about the whole ugly situation with his caddie, Dave Pelekoudas. “If we heard someone cheer for me,” Clark said, “I’d go, ‘Oh, there’s one person that likes me.’ So we would kind of make jokes and make it maybe a little light-hearted.” Smart move. Trying to defuse it with humor.What does it say about Clark’s game, though? That he still went out and won it all, despite the hostility?Scottie Scheffler, his playing partner, was impressed. “The crowd was tough today,” he said. “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.”He nailed it. “Being in the arena is not for everybody,” Scheffler added. He’s been on both sides of it. Crowds for him, crowds against him. “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.”
Beyond the Boos: Stories of Resilience and Redemption
It wasn’t all just a dumpster fire of fan behavior. There were some damn good stories coming out of Shinnecock. Stories of guys fighting back.Take Sam Burns. He was out there with his son, Bear, watching Clark finish up. Burns has come agonizingly close in back-to-back U.S. Opens. What’s his major tally gonna be? He’s 29. I’ll set the line at 1.5.And then there’s the sports writing process itself. Early Sunday, I was ready to write a piece saying Clark won, but nobody really lost. Then Burns started making noise, so I paused that to follow him. Now, let’s get back to that winners piece.We saw the rebounders. Guys like Burns, who led after 54 holes last year, only to shoot an 8-over 78 on Sunday. Keith Mitchell was another. He started the tournament 6-over through his first nine holes. Then he played 6-under golf after that. “I might have not won,” he said Sunday, “but I felt like I achieved a lot more than potentially I thought I was going to after about two hours into the round. You can always look at winning a tournament, but I think I won the week after the start.” Damn right. That’s the spirit.Harry Higgs is another rebounder. He tied for 43rd after missing six cuts in a row on the PGA Tour this season. His press conference after Friday’s second round? Pure gold. You can watch it. It was one of the best I’ve heard.Tom Kim, too. He was once ranked 11th in the world, then dropped to 141st. At the Open, he was one of only three players to finish under par. “You know, for the first time, I was able to really taste a major championship right in front of my fingertips,” Kim said. “I can go back this whole week and just see how close I actually am, and I think I finished three back, so a lot of little soft, small stuff that if I had done better, I definitely would have had a chance.” He’s looking forward, not back. “But I’m not going to look at the week of what could have been. I’m going to look at the week where, you know, I haven’t had — this is my best finish in a major since the British Open in 2023, so a lot of positives. I think this is going to give me a big boost for the rest of the season.” Smart kid.
Joaquin Niemann's Penalty: Frustration or Folly?
And then there’s Joaquin Niemann. He shot a 5-under 65 on Friday. Then a 2-over 72 on Saturday. Followed by a 4-under 66 on Sunday. That’s 7-under golf for the weekend.But Thursday? An 8-over 78. And a two-stroke penalty for throwing a club. Turned a 9 on the 6th hole into an 11. Ouch.On Sunday, he was reflective. Asked if he thought he was being made an example of, Niemann said he thought he was. “I was not trying to offend anyone,” he said. “I think it was something more — it was more something kind of like against me. I was frustrated. I had my expectations, which are always super high. I was playing good golf. I knew it was going to be a tough week, a long week, a challenging week.”“After seeing that and knowing that the best score I could do was an eight, it kind of frustrated me a lot. I’m not happy doing that. I’m not proud about throwing a golf club. I get I deserve it in a way; I don’t know. But there’s nothing I can do. I feel like I learned from it.”Then he dropped this gem: “To be honest, it was a good throw.” He laughed. “I never try to offend anybody, not even the volunteers that were there. I know they do their job … and they do the best they can. They don’t pay them to be there; they do that because they like it. I was frustrated. … It was just frustration, but it’s more because of the passion that I have to get better and better.” Passion. Yeah, that’s one word for it.
Players Battling Adversity, Still Shining
This week also saw players winning despite battling injuries. Collin Morikawa has been dealing with a back issue. After Friday’s round, he said he still felt uncomfortable, couldn’t hit cuts comfortably into wind, or “the high bomb.” Yet, the two-time major winner tied for 17th.A year ago, Sahith Theegala was fighting an oblique and neck injury. He missed events and finished 147th in the PGA Tour standings. At this Open? Theegala tied for 11th. That’s a hell of a turnaround.And Gary Woodland. After a brain procedure in 2023, he’s been managing PTSD. His openness about it, to Golf Channel’s Rex Hogaard during the Players Championship, was one of the moments of the year. The 2019 U.S. Open champ tied for seventh. Incredible resilience.
Good Stories, New Faces, and Familiar Streaks
There were good stories, too. James Nicholas, a local New Yorker who hit the tournament’s first ball, shot a 1-under 69 on Sunday and tied for 65th. Solid.We got to know Miles Russell, the 17-year-old phenom. He touched our hearts by bringing his dad out of the crowd on Sunday – Father’s Day – to carry his bag up the 18th hole. Pure class.Jackson Koivun, the college superstar who’s turning pro. Russell and Koivun played together Saturday and Sunday. It’s exciting to see these young guns emerge.And Arni Sveinsson. He missed the weekend cut, but became the first golfer from Iceland to play in a U.S. Open. I wrote about him. It’s always cool to see golf expand its reach.Then there were the continuations. Aaron Rai, J.T. Poston, and Alex Fitzpatrick showed serious grit. In his first major since his PGA Championship win, Rai tied for 11th. J.T. Poston, fresh off a Memorial win, tied for fourth. Alex Fitzpatrick, who just earned PGA Tour membership in April after winning with his brother, Matt, at the Zurich Classic, tied for 23rd. Consistency. That’s the name of the game.And who the heck is Sam Stevens? He tied for seventh. On Saturday, he had this exchange with a reporter:Reporter: “Sam, you’ve been around for a while, obviously, but I think a lot of people are going to turn on their televisions tomorrow and say …”Stevens: “Who the heck is Sam Stevens?”Reporter: “Yeah, so who the heck is Sam Stevens?”Stevens: “I don’t know. I’m an average PGA Tour player, I guess. Yeah, I don’t know. That’s a good question. I’m just a golfer. Yeah, I’m excited for tomorrow, and hopefully I can play well enough to help a few more people get acquainted with who I am.”Love that humility. Love that ambition. He’s definitely on the map now.Adam Scott is another winner. He’s now played in 100 straight majors. A streak that started in 2001. Back then, Clark was 7 years old. Imagine that.
Scheffler's Dominance, DeChambeau's Future, and Rahm's Struggles
A thought on Scottie Scheffler. He wasn’t at his absolute best, and he still tied for fourth. That’s maybe the best indicator of who he is. A less-than-fully-charged Scheffler was bested by only three players. Tiger Woods used to do that kind of thing. Scheffler will complete the grand slam next year. What’s his major tally going to be? He turned 30 on Sunday. I’ll set the line at 7.5.What about Bryson DeChambeau? Will he make the weekend at the Open Championship? And will he avoid missing the cut at every major this year? Big questions.I thought Jon Rahm would contend. He’s had success on poa annua greens. But he missed the cut, playing his last 13 holes at 8-over par. Not his finest moment.
Shinnecock: Tough, But Fair
And me? I’m about a 14-handicap. If I played from those Shinnecock tips, with the wind howling, I’d still be out there. Probably looking for my ball.What was impressive, though? I didn’t hear one complaint about the course or the setup. Considering everyone seemed to whine about it in 2018, the last time Shinnecock hosted a U.S. Open, this was a major shift.The lack of fans on Saturday was odd. Seriously, about a dozen spectators following the second-to-last group. Weird.
The "Trade Parade" and Long Island's Unique Charm
And the traffic. The “Trade Parade” traffic, as locals call it. Our lodging was 12 miles from Shinnecock. On Thursday, it took an hour and a half to get to the course. Saturday and Sunday? Twenty minutes. Go figure.This whole experience got me thinking about Long Island. And a story. It tells you a little about me, and a lot about the folks out here.After college, I interned for a summer at Newsday newspaper. Great experience. Played Bethpage. Ate at Friendly’s. Went to a certain type of club.Training was in Philly. After driving out, another intern and I were looking for a spot for a drink. Zero research. This was before everyone had a cell phone. We found what looked like a busy road, saw a sign for “a restaurant and bar.” Applebee’s is a restaurant and bar, right? We pulled up. Valet parking. Okay, maybe something a bit more upscale. We walked in. A $50 cover charge. Weird, but hey, New York’s expensive.I bee-lined to the bar. Ordered a Long Island iced tea. Felt appropriate. To my right, a woman was dancing. Hmm. To my left, my intern friend was frozen. She motioned for me to look behind us. More dancers. But no clothes.On the way out, another, uh, *unclothed* worker must have figured out our confusion. She pointed us to another bar down the street. Friendly folks here. Yeah, real friendly.The point is, golf crowds are a mixed bag. Sometimes they’re passionate. Sometimes they’re just plain awful. We need to figure out how to get more of the good and a lot less of the bad. Because this is supposed to be a game of respect. Not a damn circus.—For more on golf’s biggest events and the personalities that shape them, check out the latest insights from Golf.com’s news section.