Everyone’s hyped up for the 2024 U.S. Open that will kick off soon at Pinehurst No. 2. While 2023 witnessed Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele hitting record 62s, the same might not be the case this time around. Even Wyndham Clark would agree to the course’s toughness as he was spotted alluding to the same ahead of the upcoming major championship.

An X post was, meanwhile, shared which divulged the comments made by the 2023 U.S. Open champ about the course at Pinehurst. “They are extremely fast,” revealed the golfer before adding, “If they get any firmer and faster, the greens, I mean, they’d be borderline. They already are borderline.” It seems a tough competition is set to unfold for the athletes on the field.

The professional gave his analysis after he was asked whether he was focusing on a particular drill to get used to the speed of the greens. “The biggest thing is where you leave yourself on the greens,” replied Clark before recounting how he visited the grounds with his caddie, John Ellis. “Today I went with my caddie and we just were really charting to certain pins, like we’d rather be here than there. Sometimes that almost could mean, not that you’re trying to miss a green, but you’re erring towards the easier up and down,” he said.

One thing is for sure, the athlete is sure that he would have a tough time defending his title. Even so, he can only work hard and stay true to his words, “It’s really a lot of practice. That’s what we’re going to focus on a lot. We did today, and these next few days, to get ready.” Unfortunately, not everyone in the community was ready to express their support for the 3-time PGA Tour champ.

Wyndham Clark gets dissed by the golf community

Out of the 13 starts he made this year, the golfer could only finish a total of four times inside the top 10, including a win. The victory, however, came at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am which was forced to end after three rounds due to unfavorable weather. The rest of Clark’s starts saw him miss four cuts, finish T29 at The Sentry, T39 at the American Express, T41 at the WM Pheonix Open, T31 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, and a T47 at the Wells Fargo Championship. An enthusiast thus pointed out, “His play has been borderline this year.” 

Out of the four missed cuts he suffered in 2024, two of them came at the two major championships. He scored a 73-78 resulting in a 7-over par 151 at the 2024 Masters while dishing out a 71-75 totaling a 4-over par 146 at the PGA Championship. A couple of fans couldn’t help but take jabs at the athlete, writing, “Someone is fixing to miss the cut by a million,” and “Looks like he will be playing 36 holes again.”

Wyndham Clark had emerged victorious at the 2023 edition of the upcoming major. He did so while scoring a 10-under 270 owing to his figures of 64-67-69-70 over the four days of play at the Los Angeles Country Club. A fan alluded to the same while responding, “What real US Open golf should be, not country club they used last year,” all the while attacking the par-70 7421-yard layout in California.

A user on X didn’t side with Clark’s viewpoint of the course being on the end of danger. They commented, “That’s because it’s the US Open! It’s supposed to be difficult, and some of those greens are just crazy!” It seems the golf world still remembers the infamous Saturday of the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills which saw golfers messing up their shots (remember when Phil Mickelson had to forcibly stop his ball from rolling off the greens by hitting it while it was moving?). Even Zach Johnson had declared, “They’ve lost the course.” Well, if such a situation were to occur again, then the 2023 U.S. Open champ may very well have a long and tough weekend on his hands. The community can only wait and watch!