Getty Image / Andrew Redington
Wyndham Clark was able to outlast a star-studded leaderboard at the Los Angeles Country Club and win the US Open for his first major championship trophy.
Adding to the impressive nature of Wyndham Clark’s US Open victory is the fact that he’d never finished better than 75th in a major championship prior to winning at LACC amidst a loud buzzing sound.
At one point early in Sunday’s final round broadcast my wife turned to me and asked ‘do you hear that buzzing sound?’ I did. We were not alone.
As it turns out, everyone watching TV was hearing this same annoying buzzing sound on the US Open broadcast because there was a plane circling LACC all day, according to intrepid internet detectives:
If you're wondering why it sounds like there is a plane buzzing directly above Los Angeles Country Club on the US Open broadcast, it's because there is a plane buzzing directly above Los Angeles Country Club on the US Open broadcast. pic.twitter.com/bM47xJJULp
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) June 18, 2023
According to Pompliano, the plane that was circling Los Angeles Country Club and disrupting the US Open broadcast for millions was possibly itself being used as part of the broadcast…
The plane is registered to Island Century Media LLC, which does aerial camera and production support. So I assume it's being used for the broadcast, but I’m not 100% sure.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) June 18, 2023
Viewers were tortured by the incessant buzzing on the broadcast. They took to Twitter to share their frustrations.
One person wrote “Can it run out of gas please.” Another person half-joked “what is it advertising? Can we threaten to boycott that brand if plane doesn’t buzz off?” before finding out it was apparently an NBC plane and part of the broadcast.
Someone astutely pointed out “Why was the plane allowed above the country club on US open broadcast?”
While another chimed in to express relief that they weren’t imagining the buzzing. They wrote “This made my day! I thought I was the only one bothered by this.”
The buzzing didn’t seem to impact Wyndham Clark. He entered the tournament at +8000 to win but walked away with the US Open trophy, $3,600,000, and 600 FedEx Cup points for first. Clark also moved up to 10th in Ryder Cup qualification standings.