The U.S. Open Crowd: What's With the Booing and Bad Vibes?
So, the U.S. Open. Shinnecock Hills. Wyndham Clark wins again. Sounds straightforward, right? Wrong. The crowd was something else this year. Like, really something else. You had people booing the dude who was winning. Booing! At a golf tournament. What the hell is that about?
It felt like Clark was wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey and snatching the last cookie from Tate’s. Some rough stuff went down – locker smashing, clubs tossed, rules bent, comments made. Didn’t help that his playing partner was Scottie Scheffler, chasing a career grand slam on his 30th birthday, on Father’s Day. Talk about pressure cooker.
Clark himself said it, man: “Man, they definitely didn’t want me to win.” He’s not wrong. It’s rare. You don’t usually get fans cheering for bad shots. But outright vitriol? In golf? There’s no home team, no away team. So why come to a golf event just to hate? How did we get here? And is this only going to get worse? Feels like the lid’s off the cookie jar, you know?
Why the Hate? A Look at Modern Golf Fandom
Look, I’m not a complete idiot. I get it. The lust to be loud. The desperate need to go viral on your phone. But seriously, if you’re that inclined, hit me up at nick.piastowski@golf.com. Share your thoughts. Better yet, offer a damn solution. I’ve said it before: ban the phones. The Masters does it, and the patrons mostly behave. It’s not rocket science.
Or, you know, just boo me in a message. I’ve heard worse. So, as we look back at this U.S. Open week at Shinnecock, that’s observation number one. We’ll try for 49 more. And to keep things from getting too depressing, let’s throw in some Billy Joel. Long Island’s favorite son, right?
2. Fueled by a bagel and coffee from Goldberg’s. You know the drill.
3. It’s telling that Clark understood why the fans weren’t exactly on his side. He even joked about it 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.'” They’d make jokes, try to lighten the mood.
4. What does it say about Clark’s game that he still won, though? That’s the real question.
5. Scheffler, the guy who was right there with him, was impressed. He basically said the crowd was tough. “New Yorkers, they are tough people,” he noted. “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’s right. “But at the end of the day, I can’t control fan behavior. Being in the arena is not for everybody.” He’s seen crowds for him and 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.” High praise from a guy who knows pressure.
The Rebounders: More Than Just Winners
6. I liked this story from Kevin Van Valkenburg. He talks about how much we expect from athletes. It’s a lot. Sometimes too much.
7. So, what’s the over-under on total majors for Clark? He’s 32. I’m setting the line at 2.5. Let’s see if he can back it up.
8. How many pros are calling Julie Elion, his sports psychologist, this week? Probably a lot. She’s clearly got a good handle on him.
9. Before Saturday’s round, she told Clark something crucial on the range: “It’s not what happens to us. It’s how we respond to what happens to us.” That’s gold. Pure gold.
10. I won’t forget seeing Sam Burns playing with his son, Bear, as Clark was finishing up. A nice moment amidst all the noise.
11. Burns has come so close in back-to-back U.S. Opens. What’s his major’s over-under? He’s 29. I’ll set it at 1.5. He’s got the game.
12. Here’s a little peek behind the curtain of sports writing. Early Sunday, I started writing a piece about Clark winning big, but then I paused to follow Burns. You gotta chase the story, right?
Let’s get back to that winners piece, though.
13. You had the rebounders. Like Burns, who led after 54 holes last year, only to shoot an 8-over 78 on Sunday. Then there was Keith Mitchell. He started the tournament six-over through his first nine holes. Six-under after that. “I might have not won,” he said, “but I felt like I achieved a lot more than potentially I thought I was going to after about two hours into the round.” He won the week after the start, he felt.
14. 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? One of the best I’ve ever heard. You can watch it. It’s worth it.
15. Tom Kim, too. He was ranked 11th in the world at one point, but entered last week at 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. “I think this is going to give me a big boost for the rest of the season.” Good attitude.
The Penalty Box and the Comebacks
16. Then there’s Joaquin Niemann. Five-under 65 on Friday. Two-over 72 on Saturday. Four-under 66 on Sunday. That’s seven-under golf in total. After an 8-over 78 on Thursday, which included a two-stroke penalty for tossing his club – turning a 9 on the 6th hole into an 11. He was reflective about it. He thought he was being made an example of. “I was not trying to offend anyone,” Niemann 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.”
He admitted it was a frustration thing. “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.” He even laughed about it. “To be honest, it was a good throw.” He stressed he never tried to offend anyone, not even the volunteers. “It was just frustration, but it’s more because of the passion that I have to get better and better.” That’s a lot of passion.
17. Music break! Here’s Billy Joel song No. 1.
18. Also winning this week were players battling injuries. Collin Morikawa has had a back injury. He still felt uncomfortable, couldn’t hit certain shots. But the two-time major winner tied for 17th. Not bad.
19. A year ago, Sahith Theegala fought an oblique and neck injury, missed events, and finished 147th in the PGA Tour standings. At the Open, he tied for 11th. Big turnaround.
20. Gary Woodland, after brain surgery in 2023, has been managing PTSD. His openness about it was a moment of the year. The 2019 U.S. Open winner tied for seventh. Inspiring stuff.
The Good Stories and the New Faces
21. Then there were the good stories. James Nicholas, a New Yorker who hit the tournament’s first ball, shot a 1-under 69 on Sunday and tied for 65th. A solid showing.
22. We learned more about Miles Russell, the 17-year-old prodigy who had his dad carry his bag up the 18th hole on Father’s Day. Touching moment.
23. Jackson Koivun, the college megastar who’s turning pro. Russell and Koivun played together Saturday and Sunday. Excited to see what they do next.
24. And Arni Sveinsson. He missed the cut, but he became the first golfer from Iceland to play in a U.S. Open. I wrote about him here. A historic moment for Icelandic golf.
25. Continuations, too. Aaron Rai, J.T. Poston, and Alex Fitzpatrick showed grit. Rai, fresh off his PGA Championship win, tied for 11th.
26. J.T. Poston, the Memorial winner, tied for fourth. He’s playing some serious golf.
27. Alex Fitzpatrick, who just earned PGA Tour membership, tied for 23rd. He and his brother Matt are a force.
28. And Sam Stevens. 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.”
He certainly made a name for himself.
29. Adam Scott is another winner. He’s now played in 100 straight majors. That streak started in 2001. Clark was 7 years old then. Just puts things in perspective.
30. Music break! Here’s Joel song No. 2.
Scheffler's Dominance and the Long Island Traffic
31. A thought on Scheffler. He wasn’t at his absolute best, and he still tied for fourth. That’s the sign of a truly great player. Tiger Woods did that. A less than fully charged Scheffler is still better than most.
32. Scheffler completes the grand slam next year. Mark my words.
33. What’s his major’s over-under? He turned 30 on Sunday. I’ll set the line at 7.5. He’s got plenty of time.
34. Will Bryson DeChambeau make the weekend at the Open Championship? And avoid missing the cut at every major this year? That’s the question.
35. I thought Jon Rahm would contend. He’s good on poa annua greens. But he missed the cut, playing his last 13 holes at eight-over par. Tough week for him.
36. Me? I’m about a 14-handicap. Playing from the tips at Shinnecock in that wind? I’d still be out there. Hell, I’d probably still be looking for my ball.
37. What was impressive? I didn’t hear one complaint about the course or the setup. Considering everyone complained last time Shinny hosted the U.S. Open in 2018. That’s a big change.
38. The lack of fans on Saturday was weird. Like, a dozen spectators following the penultimate group. Odd.
39. And the “Trade Parade” traffic? A nightmare. Our lodging was 12 miles from Shinnecock. Thursday took an hour and a half to get there. Saturday and Sunday? Twenty minutes. Go figure.
40. Matt Fitzpatrick wins the Open Championship next month. Just a feeling.
41. Nelly Korda wins this week’s Women’s PGA. That would give her four of the five women’s majors. Insane.
42. Music break! Here’s Billy Joel song No. 3.
Final Thoughts and a Long Island Story
43. Here are some of my favorite reads from the GOLF.com staff this week. My story on Sveinsson, the first Icelander in a U.S. Open, you can find here.
44. Michael Bamberger’s story on Clark was great. Read it here.
45. Alan Bastable’s story on John Shippen. Important stuff. Here.
46. Josh Berhow’s tournament wrap-up. Solid read. Here.
47. James Colgan on the Turnesa family. Great history. Here.
48. Sean Zak on Niemann’s penalty. Insightful. Here.
49. And the video wrap-up from Darren Riehl and Emma Devine. See it below.
50. Wednesday, I’m off to Pinehurst for another U.S. Open. It’s a trip with my nephew after he graduated high school. Let me know at nick.piastowski@golf.com if you have any must-dos out there.
Bonus! Time for a Long Island story. It’ll tell you a little about me, and a little 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. Drove out with another intern. We looked for a spot for a drink. Zero research. This was before everyone had a cellphone. We found what looked like a busy road, saw a sign for “a restaurant and bar.” Hey, Applebee’s is a restaurant and bar, right? We pulled up. It had a valet. Hmm, maybe more upscale. We walked in. $50 cover charge. Odd, but New York is 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 me to look behind us.
More dancers. But no clothes.
On the way out, another worker, also not clothed, must have figured out what happened. She told us about another bar right down the street. Friendly folks here.