Did Wyndham Clark CHEAT to Win the U.S. Open?

More controversy with the U.S. Open Winner Wyndham Clark. Did he Cheat or not?

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[chrisc]

The rules are there to prevent one player from having an advantage over another... He gained no advantage whatsoever, there MUST be some "common sense" approach to these rules.. Once again, Internet warriors have nothing better to do!

[jamesanderson]

Looks like he matted down the turf which made it an easier shot.

Rule 8.1b. If a player creates an improvement, under Rule 8.1(a) it’s the general penalty of two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play.

[troyhake]

Rahm should have never been penalized. He didn’t see it move. It didn’t give him any advantage. Ridiculous that someone can look at a closeup picture of a ball that moves 1/32 of an inch and report a player for “cheating “.

[bdh]

Congratulations Wyndham Clark on winning the U.S. Open.

[richlewis]

If we're calling these penalties something's wrong with the world. These guys are so good a 100th of an inch does not matter. I don't mind people pointing out big infractions, but come on

[swisstrader]

This didn’t age well after seeing what happened w Clarke this weekend and him looking like he moved his ball again

[Verrifier-zz]

'Improving your lie' is probably the correct part of the rule to focus on as a disqualifier for employing a penalty.

[steveputland]

That ball movement probably would’ve happened a hundred times over the course of the tournament! No camera no movement! 👍

[craciunator]

I dont think things like this should be called cheating, cheating is more like improving the lie deliberately, or taking a free drop when you're not supposed to or something like that. We've ALL had times where we set the club down in the rough, don't touch the ball, and the ball moves a bit. That happening casually vs happening in a major tournament is obviously different. But there are simply times and lies where simply setting down the club behind the ball in the grass moves it a bit, im sure if you hyper analyzed theres dozens of moments like this in every tournament that doesnt get called out

[bobvannamen]

So many issues with this video. First, if a caddie moves your ball, you are liable for a penalty just as though you did. Second, the first question a rules official asks is did you take any actions close to your ball which may have caused it to move. Not - did you touch your ball? The gravity thing would never fly. If you move a branch and the ball rolls, gravity caused the ball to move but you get a penalty because you moved the branch. Same thing with grass. Either the ball moved or it oscillated. If it oscillated, no problem and play on. If it moved either sideways or down, you are getting a stroke. The rules can handle how to replace and what happens if the ball will not come to rest in the same place, but replacing a ball that has moved never fixes itself. The rules want you to be careful around your ball. He took the risk of grounding his club and should suffer the consequences.

[usaxtrucks]

On the golf course, every player “knows” when they do something wrong. Clark knew. Clark chose to ignore it.

He pushed the grass down behind the ball. The ball dropped vertically. Its position changed in the z-direction. He just did the same thing at the Arnold Palmer on #18.

[Robertoknowit]

surprised he grounded both irons behind the ball a risk he should be penalised for improving the lie.

[joe.ca.thi.]

HI. i ask myself, not for the ball moving. What is with the changing of the underground behind the ball. In my opinion, he changes the surface behind the ball and therefore does not play it as it lies. it doesn't change the situation of the ball itself, but it does change the ambitiousness behind the ball.

[silverfishla]

He did it again, a cheater. He did use two clubs to pat the grass down.

[PTdoubleOT]

I dont think its that big of a deal but if Rahm's was a stroke so is this. Noone gives a hoot about the ball. Its the grass behind it that hes moving out of the way. He could assess the grass thickness anywhere not right behind his ball, idk why were acting like he didnt know what he was doing..

[lvond]

These are the types of things that drive me nuts about the rules of golf. Things need to be simplified in order to make rulings quick and easy. Stop trying to define every little thing. Make it simple. Allow balls to ocellate and move or don't allow a club to be grounded around it so there isn't a chance of moving it. Just reduce the number of exceptions in rules and make it easy so there is no doubt on things like this.

[OLD-MAN-GOLF-USA]

Like Seve once said to Paul Azinger during a Ryder Cup match...there is a big difference between cheating and breaking a rule. Breaking a rule isn't cheating unless you knowingly do it on purpose...or if you know you accidentally broke a rule and didn't report it.

[yaniwolf]

The grass behind the ball did improve the shot but the ball did not move from the original position so not a penalty.
If the ball moved from the original position then penalty simple

[pamcromwell]

Looks like a pressing down on the grass behind the ball which might help with making a cleaner strike with the chosen iron.

[JoeSmith-sydv]

looks like he has a history of doing this camera was on zoom at bayhill. he also took a hack out of the fairway after making a bad shot on hole 9 march 9 2024. i know arnie would be upset I am too. thats disrespectful to golf maintenance staff around the world and of course rip arnold palmer