| Winners and losers of the US Open, and why we shouldn't be critical of McIlroy  Wyndham Clark (Source: AFP) Just looking at the initial reactions on social media, you’d get the feeling that it wasn’t Wyndham Clark who won the US Open, but Rory McIlroy who lost it instead. It wasn’t exactly a Hollywood ending for the man from Holywood, but McIlroy almost lived true to the script everyone wanted to play out. A couple of key mistakes coming in notwithstanding, it was like the 150th Open Championship last year. At St Andrews, he played so well on Sunday, only to get beaten by one guy – Cameron Smith – who played better than him. Clark made full use of a slightly tentative McIlroy at the beginning of the back nine – an iron off the tee on the 12th hole was a surprising choice for the Northern Irishman, who was flushing his driver throughout the tournament – followed by that pitch from the rough on the par-5 14th that stayed short of the green and led to a bogey. On the other hand, the 29-year-old Clark was rock solid. There were so many instances when he was out-of-the-world in escaping from the thick rough, and those two closing pars, on two of the toughest holes on the golf course after making back-to-back bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes – was stuff that defines a champion. Finishing second in a major championship is not an achievement to scoff at – even if it is from a player of McIlroy's caliber. As he rightly said after the tournament, he’s willing to wait for a hundred Sundays like the one at LACC to get his next major. Although, I get the feeling that might happen very soon. Barring Clark and McIlroy, here is my list of winners and losers at the US Open … Loser – The USGA: The United States Golf Association did many things right, but the choice of Los Angeles Country Club (LACC) as the host venue was a poor one. I have nothing against the golf course, which received its fair share of criticism, but it was the fans admission policy adopted that makes me mad. Obviously, nobody expects rounds of 62 in a US Open – and there were two of them in quick succession on Thursday (Rickie Flower and Xander Schauffele) – and neither do we think front-nine 29s are possible in a typical USGA set-up (there were two again – Tom Kim on Saturday and Austin Eckroat on Sunday). But it happened, and we can only applaud these players. But what should not have happened is the poor attendance on all four days. Apparently, only 23,000 people were allowed on course each day, which is kind of understandable because LACC is slam bang in the middle of the city, and space is a bit tight. However, what irks me is that only 9,000 general admission tickets were issued, and reportedly, half of them were taken up by LACC members. That’s really a shame for a tournament like the US Open, which is a major and the national open of the US. Just to give you an idea of what is possible – and I must say it is an extreme example – is over 700,000 people attending the Waste Management Phoenix Open ay TPC Scottsdale. The 2018 edition saw 216,818 fans attending the tournament on the Saturday. Let’s just say this wasn’t exactly a great example of growing the game. Loser – Adam Scott: Just felt that the Aussie, given his consistent performance since the middle of last year, and the way the LACC was set up, would have been one of the contenders going into the final round. However, the world No37 found just five birdies over his two rounds and missed the cut by three shots. Winner – Oklahoma State University: Why should I be talking about Oklahoma State University (OSU) when discussing the US Open? Simple really, the leadergroup on the final day was made of two ex-OSU players – Clark (he did transfer to Oregon later) and Fowler – and the top-10 included Eckroat, while Viktor Hovland was inside the top-20. Another OSU alum, Sam Stevens, made the cut, and obviously, LIV Golf star Talor Gooch was all the talk before start of the US Open because he could not get into the field despite his efforts on the PGA Tour last year and his recent form. Really, OSU has been a great finishing school for golfers. And stories like Clark, who went through a tough time 10 years ago when he lost his mother to cancer and the kind of support he got from the Cowboys, is just one of the big reasons for it. Winner – Cameron Smith: The Aussie has rediscovered his magic touch and it was very evident with his fourth-place finish. His short game was on fire throughout the tournament, and he just embraced the conditions and the quirkiness of the golf course. This sets up well for the 151st Open Championship next month in July, when he will travel to Royal Liverpool as the defending champion. Winner – Scottie Scheffler: If his putter was anyway near as hot as it was on the opening day when he shot a 67, the American would have easily added a US Open title to the Masters he won last year. Along with Rory McIlroy, Scheffler remain a ball-striking machine. | 
