Denver native Wyndham Clark apologizes for damaging lockers at Oakmont during U.S. Open
By Gary Baines – 6/19/2025
Exactly a month after apologizing for a temper-related incident at one major championship, Denver native Wyndham Clark apologized again on Thursday in the wake of damaging lockers last Friday at Oakmont Country Club, where he missed the cut at the U.S. Open.
Two years after he won the U.S. Open — one of his three PGA Tour titles — Clark bogeyed his final hole on Friday to fall one shot shy of advancing to the weekend. He then took out his frustrations on at least a couple of lockers at famed Oakmont near Pittsburgh. The damage was reported, with a photo (see below), by Tron Carter of No Laying Up (@TronCarterNLU) on X.
After making seven birdies and shooting a 6-under-par 64 in the first round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn., Clark addressed the matter in response to a question posed by a media member.
“I’ve had a lot of highs and lows in my career, especially this year some lows,” he said. “I made a mistake that I deeply regret. I’m very sorry for what happened.
“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 FedExCup. So I’m starting to move on and focus on those things.”
According to Golf.com, the nine golfers who had won a U.S. Open at Oakmont prior to last week — that number reached 10 on Sunday with J.J. Spaun prevailing — have their names on lockers. That included Clark.
The incident came a little less than a month after the 2024 Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee threw a club after a tee shot during the final round of the PGA Championship, damaging a sign as well as the club in question.
In last month’s statement, Clark posted on social media, “I would like to sincerely apologize for my behavior (May 18) on Hole 16. As professionals, we are expected to remain professional even when frustrated and I unfortunately let my emotions get the best of me. My actions were uncalled for and completely inappropriate, making it clear that I have things I need to work on. I hold myself to a high standard, trying to always play for something bigger than myself, and (on May 18) I felt short of those standards. For that I am truly story. I promise to better the way I handle my frustrations on the course going forward, and hope you all can forgive me in due time.”
Clark sat No. 3 in the World Golf Rankings as recently as the spring of 2024, but has struggled this year on the PGA Tour and has fallen to No. 27 in the WGR. His only top-10 finish this year was a fifth place in the Texas Children’s Houston Open. And his best showing since May 1 has been a 50th place in the PGA Championship.
Clark grew up in Colorado, honed his game at Cherry Hills Country Club and claimed two state high school individual titles at Valor Christian. He won both the 2010 CGA Stroke Play — as a 16-year-old — and the 2017 Pac-12 Conference individual championship at Boulder Country Club, among many other accomplishments in the Centennial State. Though he primarily now resides in Scottsdale, Ariz., he’s purchased a place in the Denver area where he spends time, primarily during the summer.
There’s now an American Junior Golf Association event in Colorado named for Clark. The Wyndham Clark presented by the Colorado Golf Association was held early this month at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve in Westminster.
Clark wasn’t the only competitor who let his temper flare during the U.S. Open at Oakmont. On Friday, Masters champion Rory McIlroy smashed a tee marker with a club and flung a club down the fairway after an errant approach shot. And world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler smashed a club into a fairway during round 1.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com