On Wednesday ahead of this week’s Presidents Cup, reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark expressed hope that fans wouldn’t root against him at Medinah, as they did at the U.S. Open in June.
Then on Thursday afternoon, Clark teamed up with Collin Morikawa to defeat the formidable International team of Adam Scott and Ryan Fox.
But while Clark didn’t experience any heckling on Day 1, he did have one problem with the American fans who showed up: they weren’t cheering loudly enough.
Clark leveled his fan criticism during his press conference Thursday night at Medinah.
At this year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, Clark captured the second U.S. Open title of his career. But he did so with large groups of fans not just openly rooting for his competitors, but actively rooting against him.
Clark’s angry destruction of lockers in the historic Oakmont locker room at the 2025 U.S. Open may have had something to do with it.
Whatever the cause, the two-time major champion hadn’t forgotten the incident when he arrived at the Presidents Cup this week.
In his Wednesday presser, Clark claimed the “media” had made him out to be a “villain,” and he admitted he hoped the U.S. fans would have his back at Medinah, saying, “Eventually it would be nice if people were rooting for me and someone else was the underdog, if you will.”
In his opening four-ball match on Thursday, Clark and Morikawa comfortably defeated Scott and Fox by a score of 3 and 2. Clark did much of the work for the American side, recording five birdies over 16 holes. While Clark and Morikawa reached 3 up early in the match at the 6th hole, Clark revealed that they hit a “lull” mid-match and struggled to increase their lead.
“Sometimes it is tough in match play getting up three. We had a couple chances to get up four. You can kind of get into a little bit of a lull,” Clark said. “We didn’t. Maybe I did for a couple of holes. We just didn’t make putts kind of in the middle part of the round.”
But Clark didn’t stop there. He then revealed the cause of his and Morikawa’s zapped momentum: a lack of vocal support from the fans.
“Yeah, the momentum was on our side early. I do want — and these guys are going to laugh, but it was kind of dead out there,” Clark said on Thursday. “I felt like the momentum could have been better, to be honest, because we weren’t really feeling the fans, I think, as much as normal.”
He continued by arguing that even when he and Morikawa made great shots, they didn’t receive much reaction from the American supporters outside the ropes.
“There was a few shots — I mean, Collin hit a 5-wood on, what was it, 11 to like 10 feet, and we didn’t even know if it was on the green because no one clapped. It was a little surprising. We’d make some big putts,” Clark said.
It was a bizarre choice for a player who is desperate to improve his relationship with American golf fans. Perhaps aware of that conundrum, Clark explained that the reason he was publicly airing his dissatisfaction was to “challenge” U.S. fans to support their team more as the week continues.
“I’m saying this more as a challenge that hopefully tomorrow and the weekend the fans are out there really rooting us on, and regardless of what happens, we have the momentum,” Clark explained.
Clark’s complaints about quiet, mild-mannered fans at this week’s Presidents Cup were also strange in light of what happened at the Ryder Cup one year ago.
Last fall, hordes of unruly fans harassed European players and their families at Bethpage Black. The horrendous behavior by spectators drew condemnation from around the golf world, with some arguing New York should not get any more big pro tournaments, and others wondering if team golf events even deserved to continue in the modern era.
No such complaints were leveled by the International team on Thursday, as the fans on the ground at Medinah behaved respectfully.
But Clark wasn’t at the Ryder Cup, which might explain his lack of sensitivity to what happened outside the ropes there. In fact, on Wednesday Clark admitted that he didn’t even watch the first two days of the Bethpage Ryder Cup, when fan behavior was at its worst, because he was “pissed” he hadn’t qualified for the team.
“Yeah, I was obviously pissed I didn’t make the team. I didn’t watch the first couple days because I was a little sour about it, not because I didn’t get the pick, it was just more that I had such a bad year,” Clark explained on Thursday.
He did, however, tune in during the U.S. team’s furious comeback attempt in Sunday singles at Bethpage and used it as motivation to make this year’s Presidents Cup team.
“Then as the guys were making a comeback on Sunday, I watched. Of course I’m friends with all these guys, and I was rooting for them hard,” Clark said. “Yeah, it’s always a motivation to make the teams. I was really happy I made this team, and I’m hoping this is one of many.”
We’ll start to see what effect, if any, Clark’s comments have on American fans as the Presidents Cup continues Friday afternoon.
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