The Cubs and White Sox both officially clinched playoff berths on Thursday, the former doing so in an afternoon game at Wrigley. Little of that buzz, however, reverberated 25 miles away at Medinah Country Club.
The crowds, if not sparser than expected, were certainly muted for the first session of the 16th Presidents Cup, which the U.S. emerged from with a 3-2 lead.
“It was kind of dead out there,” Wyndham Clark said, unprompted. “I felt like the momentum could have been better, to be honest, because we weren’t really feeling the fans, I think, as much as normal.”
Clark pointed to a shot Morikawa hit on the par-4 11th hole – a 5-wood from 229 yards to 12 feet – and how it drew no applause from the crowd.
“We didn’t even know if it was on the green because no one clapped,” Clark said. “It was a little surprising. We’d make some big putts…”
Clark then stopped himself before adding, “I’m saying this more as a challenge that hopefully tomorrow and the weekend the fans are out there really rooting us on, and regardless of what happens, we have the momentum.”
U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker was later asked about Clark’s comments. The American skipper agreed and provided a possible explanation.
“It was a weird day,” Snedeker said. “I really felt like the fans were out there and they were there, but the first tee was loud, and then it just kind of dissipated as the day went on. I don’t know why. I think part of it was because the golf course was set up pretty difficult. There were some really tough pins out there, so it was really hard to get a lot of birdies going and get guys going crazy, I guess. And there’s some tough viewing out there on some of the holes where people really couldn’t see what was going on.
“I know what Chicago is built of. I know what kind of fans we’ve got here. They’ll come out tomorrow. We’ve just got to go out and play good golf.”