Two weeks removed from the toughest final round of his career at Shinnecock Hill in New York, Wyndham Clark told Miguel A. Melendez of Men's Journal that he doesn't think most of the hecklers were rooting against him out of real malice.

Rather, he thinks a good chunk of it is up to golf pulling in a newer, more crossover crowd that treats golf as more like a football or basketball stadium.

"Some of those fans might not be traditional golf fans, so they might come to events and have a different perspective," Clark told Men's Journal. "Maybe they’re bringing the fandom of a football game, or a basketball game.”

Basketball and football have seen something similar during the NBA Finals and the Super Bowl. Each fanbase comes in to support their team and often uses chants and jeers to throw off opponents. Similarly, that might be the case with golf.

At the same time, golf fans in New York have had a reputation for a long time, especially at Bethpage. In fact, Golf Digest even noted how 2009 had a tamer crowd for a crowd with changing demographics.

Nevertheless, Clark remains unfazed. He added: “Golf’s growing, and I embraced it, and I had fun with it, you know? And I still love New York and love their fans. Yeah, they didn’t want me, but it’s okay. I overcame it, and maybe, in the future, I’ll be the guy they’re rooting for.”

And this reflected in his next few tournaments. After winning his second career major at the US Open 2026 in New York, he continued the momentum into the Travelers Championship, finishing T5, just 3 shots short of the playoffs. Now, he enters the Open Championship after another Top-25 finish at the Genesis Scottish Open.

"I try to turn everything into a positive. Obviously, it was very difficult to handle the fans, but, you know, if I look at it, it kind of made my story of winning even better, you know?"

And while Clark had a positive perspective, other players told different stories.

Brandel Chamblee Says He Had Never Seen Anything Like It

Brandel Chamblee said he had “never seen” an American player treated that badly on American soil, per NUCLR Golf.

The Golf Channel analyst pointed to past hostile galleries for Colin Montgomerie, Brian Harman and Brooks Koepka, but said Shinnecock was worse because this time the target was one of the home players.

Chamblee said he heard fans yelling for Clark to miss greens and hit bunkers. And he noted that some people cheered when Clark missed putts late in the round.

Brandel Chamblee was not the only one stunned by what happened. Wyndham Clark had a similar reaction.

"I was a little shocked they were rooting against me. I'm an American," Clark said during his appearance on 'The Rich Eisen Show'. "Boy, I played on the Ryder Cup team, I was in the Olympics. So I love all the same things."

Read more at Club Golf!

Written by

Md Saife Fida

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar