Wyndham Clark may have hoped that his golf would steal the headlines during the Travelers Championship, but it is safe to say that his tied 17th finish at TPC River Highlands did little to distract others from what happened at the US Open.
Following the US Open at Oakmont, reports emerged on social media claiming that one player had smashed a couple of the lockers in frustration. It was implied that Wyndham Clark was the culprit, with reference made to another incident at the PGA Championship the previous month.
Clark did not confirm or deny the rumours for several days. It did appear that his silence was telling, as you would imagine that the 2023 US Open champion would be desperate to quash the speculation if he was not involved.
Brandel Chamblee called for Clark to receive a lengthy suspension, as he labelled his actions ‘reprehensible’.
Wyndham Clark criticised for what he has done after damaging lockers during the US Open
Clark would finally acknowledge his mistake on Thursday after an impressive opening round at Travelers Championship.
“Yeah, I mean, I’ve had a lot of highs and lows in my career, especially this year some lows. I made a mistake that I deeply regret. I’m very sorry for what happened,” he said.
“But I’d also like to move on, not only for myself but for Oakmont, for the USGA, and kind of focus on the rest of this year and things that come up. I still want to try to make the Ryder Cup team. I still am on the outside looking in for the FedEx Cup. So I’m starting to move on and focus on those things.”
On the plus side, there was an apology. However, some have taken exception with Clark attempting to move the conversation past what happened.
And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner have hit out at Clark for his actions as well as his slightly bizarre apology.
“I understand that golf course aggravated a lot of players. I understand that you get frustrated in the heat of the moment. We had really good fun a few weeks ago when I snapped the shaft on my driver and I did not even mean to do it,” Hoggard said.
“I am not going to sit here and try and stand on a soap box and pretend I am going to clutch pearls because he stood on a locker.
“It is a shame because you and I were both in that locker room and it’s awesome. It’s like a museum inside Oakmont, it’s a really cool place. I am sure he is going to pay for I believe it was two lockers that he ended up putting a foot through or something along those lines.
“To your point a very non apology. I understand you want to move on. I understand I would rather not address this right now, of course you wouldn’t because this is not comfortable for you. You really do not get the call. But he is not the first person. You and I did not even play that golf course last week and we wanted to kick things by the time we got out of there on Monday afternoon.
“So I understand where the frustration was coming from but it is not going away any time soon.”
Lavner replied: “I don’t necessarily blame Wyndham Clark. I understand the want and the desire to move on in this instance.
“But what about the Oakmont members? I would assume they are still furious about what happened. What about the USGA and the stain on them, with Wyndham Clark, a past champion, desecrating private property while competing in their tournament?
“To me I just don’t understand where the contrition is. It is a baffling PR strategy to not fully own this and just stop at the apology as opposed to spinning this into a FedEx Cup and Ryder Cup situations.
“With Wyndham Clark in particular this sort of follows a pattern of poor behaviour. Remember the PGA Championship? He also chucked his driver and ended up destroying a sign behind the tee. So hopefully he is getting the help he needs. Hopefully he can better compartmentalise and showcase some better on course comportment.”
Wyndham Clark does now deserve strong punishment despite attempted apology
Obviously, fans need to be careful that they are not too harsh when we do not know what is going on behind the scenes with Clark. Ultimately, it is alarming that he has not been able to contain his anger in the last two majors.
But that is the real problem after what happened at the US Open. Clark has done significant damage at Quail Hollow and Oakmont, with the American very lucky not to hurt someone when he threw his driver at the PGA Championship.
He will surely be paying for the damage after what happened at the US Open. But his critics may argue that pushing for everyone to move on hints that Clark is not ready to address the issues which led to him losing his cool at the last two majors.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
