Why U.S. Open fans were kicked out for booing Wyndham Clark at Shinnecock Hills

Why U.S. Open fans were kicked out for booing Wyndham Clark at Shinnecock Hills originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

>Wyndham Clark's journey in the 2026 U.S. Open includes battling the fans at Shinnecock Hills in New York.

>While Clark was the tournament's leader for the entire of the weekend, the fans were not that excited about him being in a position to win another U.S. Open. In fact, in an effort to try and get in Clark's head, fans heckled him throughout the day on Sunday.

>That backfired for those fans, as many of them were ultimately kicked out of the event altogether. It's rare to see an American golfer so thoroughly jeered throughout the U.S. Open, but Clark's reputation led to him essentially playing a road U.S. Open.

>Here's why fans booed Wyndham Clark during the U.S. Open.

>MORE: Wyndham Clark timeline of controversies

Why U.S. fans were booing Wyndham ClarkClark has become one of the least-liked players on the PGA Tour due to a variety of controversies in his career. Most notably, Clark was banned from Oakmont for damaging the locker room after missing the cut at the 2025 U.S. Open, which was in the middle of a poor stretch of golf for the 2023 U.S. Open winner.

>A year later, Clark's game is in a much better spot, but his reputation is still poor amongst fans. At Shinnecock Hills, fans were clearly rooting against Clark as he held a huge lead on Sunday afternoon.

>A bunch of fans were kicked out of the event for jeering Clark during the final round.

Cops are booting people for shouting “Don’t choke Wyndham!” as he sets up to his shot. This young man got bounced for saying it before Clark’s tee shot at No. 4 pic.twitter.com/M1d1ZO687u

— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) June 21, 2026“Let’s go Wyndham!” yells one man in the 14th tee/9 green grandstand.

He was promptly booed.

— PJ Clark (@TheRealPJClark) June 21, 2026Additionally, fans cheered loudly anytime another golfer made a move up the leaderboard, while there were more muted cheers whenever Clark made a big shot.

The crowd are very loud everytime Wyndham Clark makes a mistake now at the US Open. The lead is just 1 with 11 holes remaining. pic.twitter.com/5XOQQ1g385

— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) June 21, 2026Clark brushed off the jeering in his post-tournament interview.

This was expertly handled pic.twitter.com/WXVfZGHGdg

— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) June 21, 2026MORE: Revisiting Wyndham Clark's 2025 U.S. Open incident

Wyndham Clark controversiesClark's biggest controversial incident came at the 2025 U.S. Open, when he damaged Oakmont's locker room after missing another major cut.

https://t.co/DdClg8952Upic.twitter.com/b1bkezlT9B

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) June 15, 2025Clark later apologized for the incident, but Oakmont ended up banning him from the club and requiring him to apply for reinstatement to return.

>Elsewhere, at the 2025 PGA Championship, Burns threw a club after a bad tee shot, luckily avoiding any fans.

This is some absolute clown stuff from Wyndham Clark pic.twitter.com/UYAH0fFTXA

— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) May 18, 2025Once again, Clark would apologize for his actions.

pic.twitter.com/v28eV96q3s

— Wyndham Clark (@Wyndham_Clark) May 19, 2025