Vols legend Peyton Manning took a wildly unpopular stance as US Open fans turned on Wyndham Clark
Tennessee Volunteers legend and Hall of Famer Peyton Manning is almost never on the side of the “villain”, which is why some fans may be surprised by his stance at the US Open this past weekend.
Tennessee Vols legend and Hall of Famer Peyton Manning is almost never on the side of the “villain,” but he was this past weekend during the US Open.
If you watched the US Open over the weekend, then you saw a very strange sight during the final round on Sunday.
Wyndham Clark, the winner of the tournament, entered Sunday with a six stroke lead. He shot three over on Sunday and held on to beat Sam Burns by one stroke.
Clark was booed by the fans at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island throughout the final round, which is not something you typically see during a golf tournament (events like the Ryder Cup notwithstanding). There were cheers for Clark’s missed shots, and some fans were even removed for shouting at the now two-time major champion.
There were two reasons, I believe, for the negative crowd reaction. One reason is because Clark trashed the locker room at Oakmont last summer after a poor round at the US Open. Another reason is because fans were frustrated that Clark jumped out to a big lead over players like Burns and Scottie Scheffler due to the fact that he played in much better round one conditions on Thursday evening than others did on Thursday morning (the greens were watered before the afternoon wave on Thursday which also helped conditions). That resulted in a mostly non-compelling weekend until Burns made a late charge on Sunday.
Peyton Manning was happy to see Wyndham Clark win the US Open
While most golf fans were openly rooting against Clark, Manning was more than happy to see him win the US Open on Sunday evening.
Manning issued a congrats to Clark via his Instagram story.
Manning, who has played in quite a few Pro-Ams, has made Denver his home for the last 14 years.
Clark, who now has five PGA Tour wins, is from Denver, so there’s a natural connection there.
I’m sure Manning and Clark have developed a relationship based on their Denver connection. And Manning obviously knows Clark the person, whereas the fans who were booing just know Clark the golfer.
Peyton is all class, he’s not the villain type. So maybe his perception of Clark should show golf fans that the Clark they think they know isn’t who Clark really is.