Wyndham Clark heard it all day from the Shinnecock Hills crowd. Fans shouted for his golf ball to go in the bunker and the rough. One was ejected after yelling: “Don’t choke, Wyndham!”

He quieted them with a 52-foot putt to tap-in range for his second U.S. Open title in four years, avoiding the worst collapse in tournament history after his six-stroke lead dwindled to one.

Oh, how this anybody-but-Wyndham crowd would've relished that.

New York loves a winner, but the one these fans really wanted to see on Sunday was Scottie Scheffler, who was chasing the career Grand Slam, or Sam Burns, who lost by a stroke. Not Clark.

Call it backlash for him damaging a locker in a fit of rage at Oakmont Country Club while missing the cut last year in the U.S. Open. Or for saying on TV that being surrounded by kids playing in the Masters Par 3 Contest was “great birth control." Or even for winning his first U.S. Open title in 2023 over fan favorites Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler.

Or maybe the folks spending their Father's Day at Shinnecock just wanted to see a little drama after Clark built leads of two, four and six strokes after each of the first three days.

“Man, they definitely didn’t want me to win,” Clark said.

It's rare for a golfer in the lead at a major championship — or any golfer for that matter — to be the subject of such derision. It happened to McIlroy at the Ryder Cup last September at Bethpage Black, also on Long Island, but that was a team competition. McIlroy was the star of the winning European side and U.S. fans went overboard in letting him have it.

Clark, 32, said he tried to see himself in an “underdog” role on Sunday, as he did in 2023.

“Anytime someone said something negative to me, I replaced it with something positive,” Clark said. “Some of it’s self-deserved. I kind of brought it on myself, but I also get it, too. Scottie was going for the career Grand Slam, and it hasn’t happened very often.”

Even so, the animosity appeared to rattle Clark early in his round. He bogeyed the second, sixth and seventh holes as fans threw their support behind Scheffler. They cheered Clark's mistakes while showering Scheffler with affection — even serenading the four-time major champion, who turned 30 on Sunday, with “Happy Birthday."

It was “Get in the bunker!” for Clark and “We love you Scottie!” for Scheffler, who tied for fourth at even par.

“You like seeing the fans cheer for you. I think sometimes it can get a little too much when, you know, balls are kind of going off greens and you start hearing cheers,” Scheffler said. “That felt a bit much to me.”

Anti-Clark fans cheered when he flared a shot under a pair of trash containers on the fourth hole and again when his shot on the seventh hole landed in a bunker.

“Wyndham gonna loose 'em,” a man said as Clark walked to his ball on 10.

“Get in the fescue!” a fan yelled after he teed off on 13. When his second shot landed on a precarious part of the green, the crowd chanted “Go! Go! Go!” and gleefully roared as the golf ball rolled off the back.

Clark won over the crowd, at least for a moment, on the 16th hole — punching out from the tall grass and pumped his fist after nailing a 24-foot birdie putt to go to 5-under par. For the moment, he held a two-stroke lead and the crowd's hopes of a different winner were fading.

But the taunts returned on the next hole as Clark backed off of his 8-foot par putt and then missed it. As Clark walked to the 18th tee, scratching his head with his hat in hand, a fan in the grandstand sang “Under Pressure."

“Yeah, it was tough, but I’m proud of myself that I battled through,” Clark said. “I mean, things really could have gotten away from me. I stood tough. Yeah, I would have liked to have won by more, but as long as you win, it doesn’t matter.”

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Associated Press writers Doug Ferguson and Eddie Pells contributed to this report.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

HALLE, Germany (AP) — Frances Tiafoe beat fifth-seeded Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in an all-American final in Halle on Sunday.

Tiafoe served eight aces and did not face a break point on the way to his first title of the year, his first ever on grass, and his fourth overall. It was only his second win in nine matches against Fritz, who beat him in the U.S. Open semifinals two years ago.

French Open champion Alexander Zverev lost to Fritz in Saturday’s semifinals. The ATP 500 grass-court event in eastern Germany serves as a tune-up for Wimbledon, which starts on June 29.

Fritz reached the semifinals last year, losing to Carlos Alcaraz.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

SEATTLE (AP) — Ranger Suarez carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Friday night.

Suarez (3-3) struck out five and walked three in 6 2/3 innings. His no-hit bid ended with Josh Naylor's one-out double in the seventh.

The 30-year-old lefty earned his first win since April 27 against Toronto.

Caleb Durbin put the Red Sox ahead with a second-inning solo homer, his fifth of the year. Durbin had his second three-hit game this season, with his first coming against Tampa Bay on June 10.

Ceddanne Rafaela scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, and Marcelo Mayer drove in two more runs with a bases-loaded single.

Carlos Narváez added a sacrifice fly before Seattle finally escaped the inning on a diving catch by Dominic Canzone in right field.

Suarez issued a two-out walk that loaded the bases in the seventh on his final pitch of the night, but Justin Slaten ended the threat by striking out pinch-hitter J.P. Crawford to preserve a 5-0 lead.

Mayer added one more insurance run with a ninth-inning RBI double. The Mariners got on the board thanks to Julio Rodríguez's two-run homer in the ninth.

Seattle starter Bryce Miller (3-1) struck out seven in five innings. He allowed three hits and one run.

Luis Castillo, who has started in all but three of his 258 career appearances, gave up five runs in four innings of relief as the Mariners revived their “piggyback” rotation.

Up next

Red Sox LHP Connelly Early (5-5, 3.81 ERA) starts opposite Mariners RHP Emerson Hancock (5-3, 3.28) on Saturday night.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

LONDON (AP) — Nos. 9 and 11 batters Matthew Fisher and Sonny Baker frustrated New Zealand and reduced England's deficit on the third morning of The Oval test on Friday.

New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry claimed a five-wicket haul thanks to three sharp catches in the first 35 minutes. England was 238-9 then and New Zealand would have expected to be batting long before lunch.

But Fisher, in his second test, and Baker, on debut, with no test runs between them, stubbornly refused to follow the script. Their every run was cheered on by a packed, sun-baked crowd.

Fisher led with 48 of their 53 runs together but Baker resisted 35 deliveries for his 4. On the 36th, Baker edged Kyle Jamieson to second slip five minutes before lunch and England's first innings was finally over at 291, trailing New Zealand by, still, a healthy 100 runs.

When the last pair of Fisher and Baker started together, England was 153 behind. To that point, New Zealand had exceeded expectations.

Jordan Cox added five runs to his overnight 22 then was out trying to casually flick Henry past Tom Latham at midwicket. As England's last senior batter, Cox's soft dismissal seemed to be a serious blow to getting close to New Zealand's total.

Only the England tail was left.

Jofra Archer was out to an incredible catch by wicketkeeper Tom Blundell up at the stumps, and Josh Tongue was caught on a second attempt, one-handed, by Nathan Smith falling backwards.

Henry, New Zealand's senior seamer, was reduced by back spasms to a spectator in the first test at Lord's but roared back here with his seventh test 5-for, and sixth 5-for in his last 12 tests.

Fisher almost ran himself and Baker out early in their stand but settled. His sixth boundary brought up his fifty off 77 balls and drew the crowd to their feet 10 minutes before lunch. He was stranded there when Baker gave Jamieson his first wicket of the innings.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket