MEDINAH, Ill. – Wyndham Clark wanted the sound, and he knew how it sounded.
“These guys are going to laugh,” Clark said, gesturing to Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns sitting next to him.
Clark, after all, had heard regrets this year, even while win the US Openwhich, by all accounts, should be a pleasant moment. There were even whispers that he was a bad guy, which here in the Chicago area is a term reserved for those who ask for a thin slice. But on Thursday night, after Clark and partner Collin Morikawa won their four-ball match Day 1 at the Presidents’ Cup, Clark gave it to us the definition of irony.
“It was a little dead out there,” he said. “I feel that the moment could be better, to be honest, because we didn’t really feel the fans, I think, how normal.
“There were a few shots – I mean, Collin hit a 5-wood, which was, 11 to like 10 feet, and we didn’t even know if it was on the green because no one applauded. It was a little surprising. We will make some big putts – I say this more as a challenge that I hope will happen tomorrow and the weekend, what the fans do not really have, regardless of the fans. the momentum.”
A few minutes later, Brandt Snedeker, Clark’s American captain, agreed with him, saying that “it was a strange day.” And maybe it was in Medinah Country Clubfor a variety of reasons: maybe it was just because it was Thursday; maybe it was due to some areas of view; perhaps it was a general malaise over the injury uncertainty of the local football club’s quarterback. Fandom can sometimes be fickle. But there’s also a bit of Goldilocks-ness to it.
You don’t want too much.
But you don’t want what the hell you call it what is down last September at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island. In short, even Webster had not heard some of the words expressed.
So what needs to be said, especially now, after a stunner on fridaywhere the Internationals dust the Americans, 5-0, and lead 7-3 overall? Remember that things turned ugly in Bethpage on Saturday afternoon.
The thing is, maybe the words should not be he saidhowever.
They should be sung.
You know the hits. There are thison Rory McIlroy singing to The Cranberries’ “Zombie”:
It’s in your heeeeaaad
It’s in your heeeeeeeaaaaad
Ro-ry, Ro-ry, Rory-yyy
And there is thison Tommy Fleetwood:
Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy
Tommy FLEETWOOD
And thisin Team Europe, sung to “Freed from Desire”, by Gala:
Europe is on fire
The United States is terrified
Europe is on fire
The United States is terrified
Europe is on fire
The United States is terrified
Europe is on fire
whomp
Well, well, well, well, well
“>
There is a theme, of course. All of the central Europeans or the continent they come from. Most of the lyrical geniuses at the Guardians of the Cup, a group of European fans; their website it also includes songs that go back a decade. The inspiration comes from European football; go to any match, and there is anthem after anthem. Josh Crutchmer know that He has written several books about music and his byline appears in Rolling Stone, and football is his passion.
“It’s absolutely the culture,” he wrote to me. “European sports in general predated ours, and sports with associated collective fandom – golf, football, rugby – have been communal for centuries. Anything from a church hymn to a war cry to a sea shanty could naturally become a sports song.
“Leave it in modern pop culture on top of that story and the big golf tournaments are great fodder for inventing songs like this.”
But why is it not taken in the United States?
Maybe it’s not too late. Americans are creative, of course, but we also shouldn’t be afraid to champion.
“The easiest way for American sports fans to adopt these would just be to take a cue from their enemies,” says Crutchmer. “But if it’s a point of pride, then I think we’d do well to look at our college sports culture. Chants like these are a big part of softball and football at the college level. And if we want to keep the sports seen as on par with top-level golf, we should look at how football fans celebrate touchdowns.
“We’re not as far from it as we think. It’s just a matter of taking a step less seriously as fans.
insert? I can do that.
Songwriting, though? Some say I struggle with website writing. It turns out that Claude, the AI assistant, wasn’t all that great. My question was this: Hello, Claude. Can you write five song choruses that include the names of the American Presidents Cup teams? The best catcher! Wyndham Clark wants the noise. Here are some of the answers:
Sung to the tune of “Sweet Caroline”:
Where it started
I can’t begin to know
But Scottie’s swing
Man, it just keeps floating!
Burns and Cantlay
Look down the fairway
So good, so good, so good
Sung to the tune of “Seven Nation Army”:
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Scottie is coming, you better know
Burns is swinging, watch him show
Red and white, we won’t fold –
Medinah is ours, the story is told!
To the tune of “Livin’ on a Prayer”:
Hey, we’re halfway there
Oh, Schauffele takes off!
Take my hand, we’ll swear,
Whoa-oh, living in Medinah!
Hmm. OK then. Let’s pray instead.
On Friday, GOLF.com’s talented videographer Will Moriarty and I spoke with a few people in Medinah about Clark’s comments — and my humble proposition. Most agree with Clark. Most thought more noise would come in the remaining days of the Cup. Most thought the songs were a European thing.
But friends Gage and Leebo tried the Tommy Fleetwood song – using Scottie Scheffler’s name as my suggestion.
Scottie, Scottie-Scottie, Scottie
Scottie Scheffler
Not bad! But Americans may need something more. Bigger. More daring.
Friday was an international incident. A Medinah mauling. Five alternate shooting matches. Five international wins. Afterwards, Snedeker said the support was better on Friday, but going into Saturday, the red, white and blue are bad.
They need Keenan Fitzpatrick.
He is one of Clark’s childhood friends. He had heard about his friend’s comments.
Fitzpatrick said he just returned from Colorado. He dressed in a suit that had more than a few onlookers thinking he was Evil Knievel. He brought a second in case anyone else wanted to join him. He said that “this sport goes back to the age and we have to learn to do it strong”.
I asked him if he wanted to sing.
He did. He said that doing so will make him jump around. That he did. And we had this.
Wyn-dham
Wyn-dham, Wyn-dham
Wyn-dham, Wyn-dham
Come on, Dub!
Maybe Clark heard this.
(You can see a video of Fitzpatrick below. His song is at the end.)
Editor’s note: If you have a song you want to send to the author, you can email him nick.piastowski@golf.com.
