Wyndham Clark’s – At Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, Wyndham Clark is back in the good graces after he destroyed a locker last year following his 125th U.S. Open collapse. This year’s Spring Ringer champions received a trophy built partly from leftover locker mesh—an unusua
The trophy looked playful at first—small, mesh-framed, almost like a joke you’d expect from someone with a clubhouse sense of humor.
But the prize carried a very specific memory: the locker Wyndham Clark destroyed at Oakmont after he missed the 36-hole cut at the 125th U.S. Open.
At the Spring Ringer at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh. the club’s champions were presented with a trophy made using leftover mesh to repair the locker. Oakmont’s pro emeritus Bob Ford. who played in the two-man team event with his son. called the mini replicas “adorable mini copies of our lockers.” He added that members had wanted to buy one—though “sadly it had nothing to do with Wyndham.”.
That detail still matters, because Oakmont’s relationship with Clark has been loaded for months. A photo of the demolished locker went viral last year. and Ford said his “childish behavior changed the narrative” around the 2023 U.S. Open champion. The club’s patience also has context: Ford tied the latest fallout to an earlier incident at the PGA Championship a month before the U.S. Open, when Clark threw his driver and nearly hit a volunteer.
In a letter sent to Oakmont membership, club president John Lynch described what reinstatement would require. The conditions. Lynch wrote. would be contingent upon Clark fulfilling “a number of specific conditions. ” including full repayment for damages. a meaningful contribution to a charity of the Board’s choosing. and the successful completion of counseling and/or anger management sessions.
Rumors then started to swirl inside the club about whether Clark truly made amends. Ford addressed that directly in his conversation about the situation.
The timing is also impossible to miss. As of Saturday afternoon, Clark was leading the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Ford—who serves as the U.S. Open first tee starter—said he’d finished a long day at the course before speaking, and he wanted to separate chatter from the facts.
“You may have heard a lot of stories. I will give you the facts,” Ford said. “Wyndham has done everything that was asked of him by both the USGA and Oakmont together. The lockers are fixed and he did pay for them.”
Ford said he couldn’t say for certain whether Clark made a contribution to Oakmont caddies or the Western Golf Association, but he knew the beneficiary would be caddies. He also confirmed Clark completed anger management classes, which he said were completed online.
Ford added a warning that came with those sessions: Clark was told that if he had another public incident of anger like the one tied to the locker, he wouldn’t be able to compete at Shinnecock.
Clark’s reaction, meanwhile, has been to the attention itself. After grabbing the 36-hole lead at Shinnecock, he addressed the grief he said he has received since last year. “I’ve gotten a lot of grief since last year, rightfully so,” Clark said. “The thing that’s unfortunate is that’s not who I am, what happened last year. I’m hoping I can win back the fans that I had or some new fans because it was a terrible incident.”.
He kept the focus on the moment he believes defined him unfairly. telling reporters he wants to show people something else about his personality: “You know. I really feel like I can show people that I’m fun and outgoing. I’m fierce. competitive. love the game. respect the game. and I just had a bad moment. Hopefully I can win those people back.”.
Attempts to reach Clark’s management company went unanswered.
Still, Ford acknowledged there’s been confusion among members—particularly about whether the locker had been repaired yet. He dismissed claims that it had not been fixed. Part of the confusion. he said. may come from the way members treated the damaged locker after the incident: some members enjoyed showing Clark’s destroyed locker to guests. Because of that, they held off on repairing it through the fall and only repaired it during the winter.
Ford also addressed the argument that Clark didn’t apologize fully or quickly enough. This week, he said, Clark has owned it. Ford’s message was quieter. more deliberate: “I think Wyndham has paid the price and he wants it behind him and we’re not anxious to stir the pot. ” Ford said. “I hope he does great this week.”.
The Spring Ringer tournament that produced the new trophy was played on May 29-30. and Golfweek obtained a photo of the prize from the member-guest event. The trophy’s construction—from leftover mesh used to repair what was destroyed—turns an old incident into something the club can point to with a straight face: the locker is fixed. repayment was made. and the conditions laid out by club leadership were completed.
Wyndham Clark Oakmont Country Club Spring Ringer U.S. Open Shinnecock Hills locker destroyed John Lynch Bob Ford anger management counseling charity contribution PGA Championship driver incident