Paige Spiranac has leapt to Wyndham Clark’s defense after the US Open champion endured jeering fans and even police action during the weekend at Shinnecock Hills. Spiranac said the criticism has “been taken too far,” arguing Clark’s fiery competitiveness has b
By the time Wyndham Clark reached the trophy ceremony at Shinnecock Hills, the damage had already been done in the stands.
On the final day of the US Open. Clark survived a nervous stretch and fought his way to his second major championship in a setting that felt determined to spoil his momentum. He began Sunday with a brutal start. bogeying three of his first seven holes to give his rivals hope of a late surge. On-site. the crowd appeared to lean into that hope—jeering the leader as his early collapse opened the door for a comeback.
The atmosphere turned harsher still. Fans cheered his misses and heckled him throughout, and police even removed spectators for shouting abuse at him. When Clark finally found the kind of golf that silences a hostile room. he did it in the most uncomfortable place possible. putting together one of the biggest rounds of his life to win the championship.
Then, in New York, he acknowledged the reality of what he’d faced. “New York didn’t really like me,” Clark said at the trophy ceremony. “I love you guys.” He added, “But I get it. Some of it’s self deserved. I did some unfortunate things last year that I really regret. and I’ve said sorry multiple times. and I’m still sorry. So, hopefully, I can win you guys over eventually.”.
Spiranac’s message was direct: the hostility, she said, had gone further than it needed to.
Paige Spiranac fired back at Clark’s “tiresome” critics in a post on X aimed at what she called an unfair snap judgement. She revealed that she has known Clark since he was 12 years old and said she has never seen him behave the way some fans insist he does.
“The hate for Wyndham Clark doesn’t make sense to me,” Spiranac wrote to her 1.1 million followers on X. “People complain constantly that golfers are boring and show no emotion. But then you have someone who has a fiery, competitive spirit and that’s also a problem. I just feel that it’s been taken too far at this point.”.
Her argument carried its own frustration. Spiranac said the vitriol wouldn’t be tolerated if the standard was simply emotion on the course. Instead. she pointed to accountability as the dividing line: “People complain constantly that golfers are boring and show no emotion. ” she said. before adding that beating someone down “especially after they took accountability” is “just tiresome.”.
A reply came back with a harsher view, drawing a line between competitiveness and character. “There’s a difference between ‘fiery, competitive spirit’ & just simply being a douchebag. Clark is the latter by all accounts,” the user wrote.
Spiranac responded with the familiarity that has shaped her stance. “I’ve known him since he was 12,” she wrote. “I’ve never seen that side of him in person. It’s just crazy people can make such a snap judgement about someone without ever meeting them”.
Clark’s unpopularity with parts of the US Open crowd isn’t new. Over a year ago at the same tournament—at the 2025 US Open at Oakmont—he smashed up the locker room after missing the cut by a single stroke. He had previously thrown his driver after a bad shot at the PGA Championship months earlier. Those incidents turned him into a villain in the eyes of many fans. and they’ve lingered as his name stayed in the spotlight.
But the response he got over the weekend at Shinnecock Hills suggested something more than lingering dislike. From jeering at his early bogeys to police removing supporters who shouted abuse, Clark had to steady himself while people appeared to want him to fail.
And when he did what needed doing—finishing with the kind of late pressure that defines major championships—his words at the ceremony sounded like a plea wrapped in gratitude. The hate, the apology he referenced, and the promise to “win you guys over eventually” were all there in the same breath.
Spiranac’s defense arrived alongside another controversy of Clark’s own making—this one not about his play, but about a private story he chose to share.
Fresh off his second major triumph, Clark made a bombshell claim during an appearance on Barstool’s ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast on Wednesday. He alleged that his ex-girlfriend cheated on him in 2016 with NFL quarterback Baker Mayfield, who attended college in Oakland at roughly the same time as him.
The hosts pulled up one of Clark’s old tweets from 2016 that read “I hate baker mayfield.” Clark said: “I’m trying to decide if I should tell the story… alright screw it I don’t care. People already hate me.”
He then claimed: “My girlfriend at the time cheated on me with Baker Mayfield.” Clark added that Mayfield was playing college football for the University of Oklahoma in 2016, while Clark was at Oklahoma State University before leaving for the University of Oregon that summer.
Clark finished the story with a twist that underscored how messy public judgment can be. “But here’s what I would say: I’m actually a Baker fan now, I think he’s a homie.”
The line that followed came out with the same blunt honesty that has made him controversial in golf circles: “That’s your initial response, ‘Screw that guy.’ But really it’s screw the [girlfriend].”
Paige Spiranac Wyndham Clark US Open Shinnecock Hills 2026 US Open Oakmont 2025 Baker Mayfield Pardon My Take golf news