00:00The simple and frustrating reason there are very few fans at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
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00:12News for daily global updates. Wyndham Clark secured a six-shot lead through 54 holes at
00:18the U.S. Open on Saturday evening. Yet as he closed out his third round beneath a picturesque
00:23sunset, the extremely sparse galleries and non-existent atmosphere at Shinnecock Hills
00:28were impossible to ignore. Shinnecock Hills is one of the great championship golf courses on earth,
00:34but it is also a logistical nightmare given its location on Long Island, New York, where getting
00:40tens of thousands of fans to and from the property is a never-ending challenge. The crowds throughout
00:46the morning and early afternoon action on Saturday were large, vocal, and engaged, but as the final
00:52groups played their last few holes, the energy from outside the ropes was borderline non-existent.
00:57It was kind of unfortunate that we're finishing in the dark and people weren't really out there
01:01because there were some obviously key, big moments, and it did kind of get a little flat.
01:06So yeah, unfortunately, Clark said after the third round. Hopefully, tomorrow there's a bunch
01:12of fans and stuff, but for me, it's still really important and I still felt the moment. It's just
01:18maybe unfortunate that there weren't all the people there. The USGA may deserve a bit of criticism
01:23for the sparse crowds on Saturday evening, with the final pairing of Matt Fitzpatrick
01:28and Clark having a 3.45 p.m. local tea time, but most of the issues fall under transportation.
01:34With a large portion of the fans descending on Shinnecock coming from the boroughs of New York
01:39City, the only logical way to get to the property is to take the Long Island Railroad train from Grand
01:45Central Station or Penn Station. The LIRR provided additional trains to and from the Shinnecock Hills stop
01:51on Long Island throughout tournament week, but with the journey being over a four-hour round trip
01:56with multiple stops, fans weren't left with much of an option other than to get on an early evening
02:01train to get back to the city at a decent hour. Fans, including families with children, looking to
02:07get back to Grand Central Station or Penn Station before 9 p.m. on Saturday had to jump on the
02:136.07 p.m.
02:15train from Shinnecock. The final train from Shinnecock back to the city left at 9.30 p.m.,
02:21but did not arrive at Grand Central until after midnight.
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