Brandel Chamblee has admitted that he has never seen anything like the reaction Wyndham Clark received during the final round of the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
Clark is now a two-time US Open champion after an extremely impressive performance in New York. The 32-year-old was far from his best on Sunday as he looked to hold on to a six-shot lead.
Sam Burns piled the pressure on with his round of 67. But Clark also had to deal with an extremely partisan crowd that did not want to see him get across the line.
Brandel Chamblee reacts to the way Wyndham Clark was treated at the US Open
There were jeers from the very start of Clark’s final round, while some spectators made no secret of the fact that they wanted his ball to roll into the bunker at every opportunity.
Meanwhile, other players were told by those behind the ropes that they wanted to see anyone but Clark win the third major of the year.
Clark is under no illusions when it comes to the way he is perceived by many golf fans.
Nevertheless, speaking on the Golf Channel, Brandel Chamblee suggested that he was taken aback by the reception Clark received all day.
“I think it was the worst I’ve ever seen a player treated. And when you consider it was an American player on American soil, yes, I’ve seen foreign players, I’ve seen Colin Montgomerie get jeered over here in a Ryder Cup and in major championships. I’ve seen Brian Harman get jeered at The Open Championship on, to him, foreign soil. I’ve seen that, but I’ve never seen an American player, on American soil, get so jeered,” he said.
“I get it. I think when Brooks was stumbling a little bit [at Bethpage], yeah, there was some of it, but I don’t remember it being present from the first tee on with every single shot he hit. There were times when he was standing over a shot, in the bunker on four, he was standing over the shot, I heard people yelling, you know, hit it in the bunker, you know, miss the green, cheering for every little miscue that he had today.
“I have actually never 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. All the way, to be able to put that out of your head, you’re trying to win a US Open, you’re trying to control your nerves, and to try to put that out of your head, I’ve never seen anybody have to deal with that element in a major championship to the extent that I saw Wyndham have to deal with it today.”
The New York crowd’s heckling of Wyndham Clark possibly left him more popular than he has ever been
Clark has not done himself many favours over the years. He has made a number of ill-advised comments about a range of topics, including just how ruthless he would like the PGA Tour to be with cards.
Unsurprisingly, there was a backlash given that Clark had only just elevated his game to a level where he seemingly did not need to worry about his future. Of course, he subsequently endured a remarkable slump in form.
Plenty has also been made about his actions at both the PGA Championship and the US Open last year. Once again, Clark’s initial response to what happened at Oakmont was so poorly handled.
But, regardless of what you think of him, many would have been uncomfortable with how Clark was treated on Sunday. After a while, it became difficult to watch.
It was relentless, even if the comments were largely repetitive and did not seem to get too personal. And had Clark ended up throwing away the title, he would have had good reason to be resentful to those behind the ropes.
He not only had to consider the possibility of throwing away one of the largest 54-hole leads in major championship history, but also the ridicule that would have come his way off the back of it.
With that, there was a stage when many would have started to have sympathy for Clark, even if they were not fans of his.
He may never become a fan favourite, but the criticism probably did end up making him more popular than he has been in some time.
