Matthew Coritz

The United States Open tournament had never been to Los Angeles Country Club. Fans, players, and the USGA alike did not know what to expect. They had been hearing good things about the setup from players and if you took a look at a few pictures of the course online, you knew it was going to be fun to watch on TV with intriguing holes and stunning views, not to mention the barrancas. As far as storylines go, if you asked a writer to dream up his top five coming into this week without question a Rory Mcilroy 5th major after a shocking PGA-LIV Merger and years of missed opportunities, or a California kid Rickie Fowler comeback victory to finally reach the mountaintop after the depths of the past few years, would both surely be in there. What most didn’t have on the docket coming into this week is both of those possibilities being so close on Sunday afternoon, yet being spoiled by someone the average fan had not really heard of prior to this week. Everyone loves the underdog but not so much this week. Wyndham Clark had to come out and play spoiler—and spoil the party he did. 

Wyndham Clark had gone under the radar this year but he turned a corner a few weeks back when he took the Wells Fargo title in a designated event at Quail Hollow. Taking down a major-like field at a venue that has hosted major events in the past, sometimes has an immeasurable impact on a player’s confidence. He’s always had the talent too. He cruises in the high 180s for ball speed with his driver and showcased a super comfy short game all weekend. Guys like that just need a solid week and a few bounces to go their way and they could win it. Maybe he’ll be a flukier major winner like Gary Woodland or Danny Willet, or maybe this is just the start of huge things to come. We’ll just have to wait and see but for now, what we do know is that he’s had a heck of a season and we’ll almost surely see him donning the Red, White, and Blue in the Ryder Cup this fall. 

In a town so famous for its scripts maybe Wyndham’s just went under the radar. He was 19 years old when he lost his mother to cancer. He was in his first year at Oklahoma State and he was lost, citing multiple times he stormed off the golf course and would just get in the car and take off with no destination in mind. He thought about quitting the game altogether. He transferred to Oregon and a change of scenery did bode well for him, but the struggles remained. As an uber-talented player, facing struggles like this hit him even harder. This wasn’t just a just shot an 80 I never want to see my clubs again frustration, this was a different beast. When everything seemed stacked against him he persevered. He “played big” like his Mom told him to. He worked his way through the ranks and did not have the shiny traditional route to the top. Sometimes all it takes is four days to change your life and have all that hard work pay off. Just like Rickie said as they embraced on the 18th Green after Wyndham had become a major champion, “Your Mom was with you, she’d be very proud.”

All the credit to Wyndham Clark, but man did this feel like the one for Rory Mcilroy. In a performance eerily similar to the Open at St. Andrews last year, he came up just short. He played solid but something just felt off the entire day. The putter wasn’t working, he didn’t give himself enough good looks, and there was the fateful wedge into the lip on 14. For a player of Rory’s caliber chasing down one with Wyndham’s resume, there should be an air of inevitability that Rory will chase him down and nab the major, but following along all day it really just felt the other way around. Each time a missed opportunity like this goes by more and more doubt creeps in, will it ever really happen again? The scar tissue is very real as evidenced by Mcilory leaning in to hug his manager after a tough round and the first thing he said was “St. Andrews all over again.” Ouch. It looks to me like he continually gets himself to the spot and instead of pouncing and going for broke, he hopes the other guy will fold. The 14th hole was a perfect example of that. After a drive left, he drew a decent lie in the tough bermuda rough. He had a decision to make. The scoring had been about a shot better when going for the green in 2 vs laying up and trying to make birdie the hard way, but he did have to play from the rough. Rather than pressing and making the bold play he proceeded to lay up, dump the wedge in the bunker, and make bogey. Just a few minutes later Rory had to watch Wyndham effectively ice the tournament after majestically cutting a 3 wood onto the green in 2 and 2-putting his way to birdie. We were offered a glimpse into Rory’s great mindset when he was asked if he’s getting tired of going through missed chances like this, saying “I would go through 100 Sundays like this just to get my hands on another major championship,” but I’d love to see him go for broke and live with the consequences rather than be left wondering what could have been. 

There was a lot of hype about the venue coming into this US Open, with Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course frequenting the top 20 World Top 100 golf course lists and the picturesque views of the City of Angels in the background of many holes. Unfortunately, relative to expectations, the atmosphere fell pretty flat. There was nobody there until Sunday! Of course, there were people there but it was missing the roars and the masses that Major Championship golf is so synonymous with. They only hosted 23,000 fans daily, compared to previous years being closer to 50,000 and many of the tickets were corporate suites which aren’t exactly the fans that bring the energy.  The venue does have space limitations just due to the routing but still very disappointing stuff from the USGA. The course itself also had some big hits but I think it had some surprising misses. The short Par 4 6th was super entertaining all week with its risk-reward with a layup vs going for it. I was very disappointed by the short par 3 15th though, as it just never had any juice. The green was supposed to cause havoc even while playing under 100 yards and it just never did, and as mentioned earlier the fanfare was poor. My main issue was that for a player like Wyndham Clark, no disrespect, but guys like that have a serious history of blowing it. That’s just how it goes your first time in contention at a major. Example A: Mito Pereira just last year on the 72nd Hole at the PGA. But the course simply didn’t let him. He had a two-shot lead when he tugged a wedge left with a finish leaving you knowing he hated it. But he found a weak spot in the rough just left of the green and got up and down. And then he hit a wipey fade off the planet right and there was no penalty for it. It was in the fairway! I felt like on the final hole of a major, especially the US Open, you really have to test the guy’s nerves. The tee shot on 18 was the furthest thing from that. The 17th hole and the 18th both felt like very hard birdies but relatively easy pars for these guys. It was tough to get close in 2 but not too difficult to get down in 2 for par from around the greens. Once again, Wyndham was the guy, they all played the same course but the finish was a bit of a dud. 

After a pair of 62s on the board Thursday, setting a new US Open record and then tying it a few minutes later, there was a public outcry that the USGA had gone soft. This was a tournament that fans know, and the USGA themselves brand as Golf’s Toughest Test. I understand the whole par is a relative number and it’s about rewarding shot value and not simply the score at the end of the day, but that’s just not it. For the common fan, even par as a winning score means it was a struggle. This is the US Open. The people want to see carnage. You can miss me with the “Oh they just duffed a chip, they’re just like me.” Cut it out they’re nothing like you, but man it is fun to watch them struggle for one week a year. Give me players complaining about the setup being unfair, I want putts flying past the hole off the green, and wedges not sticking where they’re supposed to. All of it. A quote came out from the USGA setup man John Bodenhamer, “We want to identify the best players not embarrass them.” How soft is that? Is it really a US Open if there are no complaints about the setup being too diabolical? The US Open’s always done a good job toeing that line between unfair and just extremely difficult and we should do what we can to get back to that, not just catering to the players. May the grittiest man win.

The season is ramping up, and it’s crazy we’re already through 3 of the 4 majors this calendar year. We’ve got a month until we find out who’s going to step up and be the man in Hoylake.