Oakmont suspends Wyndham Clark for damaging lockers after missing U.S. Open cut

New York Times

16-07-2025

A recent U.S. Open winner has been suspended from an iconic U.S. Open venue.
Oakmont Country Club barred Wyndham Clark from the property after he damaged its 121-year-old locker room in a fit of rage after missing the cut at the U.S. Open last month.
In a letter written to members this week, first obtained by Golf Digest, Oakmont president John Lynch said that Clark is not allowed at the club after discussions with the United States Golf Association (which runs the U.S. Open) and the Oakmont board.
Advertisement
Clark's reinstatement is contingent upon '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,' according to Lynch's letter.
The incident in question happened after the second round of the U.S. Open, when Clark missed the cut by a stroke at 8-over par after bogeying his final hole. Shortly after, a social post from No Laying Up's Todd Schuster showed a photo of Oakmont's lockers kicked in, which Clark later confirmed were from his actions.
https://t.co/DdClg8952U pic.twitter.com/b1bkezlT9B
— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) June 15, 2025
The U.S. Open returns to Oakmont in 2033. With the Open Championship beginning Thursday at Royal Portrush, Clark has not spoken about whether or not he intends to meet any of the club's requirements for reinstatement.
Clark, who won the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, apologized for the locker damage the following week at the Travelers Championship. But his apology garnered even more scrutiny when he implied he just wanted to move on for himself and 'for Oakmont.'
'I made a mistake that I deeply regret,' Clark said. '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 FedEx Cup. So I'm starting to move on and focus on those things.'
Clark's entire rise in golf has largely been followed by the storyline of his mental health journey, overcoming anger issues and the loss of his mother with the help of performance coach Julie Elion. In 2023, he won the Wells Fargo Championship before jumping into stardom with his win at LACC for a major championship. He's since become a mainstay on U.S. Cup teams at both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup and is a member of the tour's new TGL indoor league. But in 2025, Clark has struggled, going three months between finishes inside the top 25.
Advertisement
That culminated with his missed cut at Oakmont, and he had other incidents with anger in that timeframe. At the PGA Championship in May, Clark threw a club behind him that flew through a tee sign. Since the incident at Oakmont, Clark finished T17 at the Travelers Championship and T11 at the Scottish Open.
'Yeah, I mean, I made a mistake in a moment of rage with, you know, a bad year and everything coming together and it just was more than anything a good wake-up call for me to say, 'Hey, you know what, let's get back on track and things aren't that bad,'' Clark said last week in Scotland.
'I live a great life and I'm not that far off from playing good golf, so I feel like I've turned a page and we're now maybe on the right track of playing some good golf.'