The 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark seems to have developed a habit of venting his frustration on the facilities at tournament venues. Since his major win in 2023, Clark has struggled to maintain his champion form. In 2024, he managed just one PGA Tour victory—at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am—and secured runner-up finishes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship. However, he disappointingly missed the cut at the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the Open Championship. He also failed to defend his U.S. Open title.

Unfortunately, with each passing year, Clark has continued to slip down the rankings. In 2025, after ten events, his best finish so far is a T5 at the Houston Open. The string of poor performances and mounting pressure appears to be taking a toll on him.

His frustration first boiled over at the PGA Championship held at Quail Hollow, where he threw his driver into an advertising board. After hitting his tee shot into the fairway bunker on the par-4 16th hole, he smashed his driver so forcefully that the head broke on impact. Shortly after, at the Oakmont Country Club, he showed a similar outburst. Failing to make the cut after 36 holes, Wyndham Clark took his frustration out on the locker rooms.

Before Clark addressed the incident publicly, LIV Golf pro Graeme McDowell stepped in to defend him. A day after the second round and the locker room damage, McDowell tweeted: “This is minimal compared to what I’ve seen other players do. Players you would never expect. Oakmont will test any player’s mental fortitude. Seen it in person. Guess who? 2016.” However, McDowell’s act of support backfired when fans around the world started guessing who the 2016 culprit is.

In the tweet, McDowell suggested that other players had behaved worse than Clark, which quickly set off a flurry of fan speculation. Some guessed he was referring to Phil Mickelson, while others pointed to Shane Lowry, Dustin Johnson, or Rory McIlroy. The list of potential “culprits” kept growing.

Realizing the stir his comment had caused—and the potential damage it could do to fellow pros—McDowell acknowledged his misstep and posted a follow-up tweet to clarify his intentions. However, the second post came off as an apology for the first.

In it, he concluded: “The part when I said ‘guess who’ was unfair on my part because I would never put a fellow pro in that scenario. What happens in those private sporting areas is not for public consumption, in my opinion.” Well, Wyndham Clark wasn’t the only one who showed signs of frustration at Oakmont.

Not for just Clark, Oakmont is the ultimate test for golfers

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons lately. He’s made headlines not just for his continued media silence but also for a string of disappointing performances following his long-awaited Career Grand Slam. His slump began at the PGA Championship, where he finished T47 at Quail Hollow. Moreover, it continued when he missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open ahead of the U.S. Open.

At Oakmont, McIlroy’s frustration was on full display. In Round 2, he opened with three double bogeys in the first three holes and added another bogey on the 11th. After his shot on the 12th green, he angrily tossed his club with both hands. Then, on the 17th, after misfiring his shot, he smashed a tee marker with his club in a clear moment of rage. He wasn’t alone in letting emotions get the better of him.

Tyrrell Hatton, playing in his 41st major, came heartbreakingly close to his first major title. He was tied for the lead with just two holes to play on Sunday. But disaster struck at the 17th when his tee shot landed in the rough, rolling onto the sloped edge of a bunker. His attempt to recover went awry, sending the ball into the opposite rough. Somewhat like Wyndham Clark, visibly frustrated, Hatton smashed his club into the ground. He went on to bogey both the 17th and 18th, crushing his hopes of claiming the 2025 U.S. Open.