Sunday’s 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club came down to the final hole. Wyndham Clark, who, earlier this year, was ranked 163rd in the world (he’s now up to 13th), won his first major title over runner-up Rory McIlroy.
Clark’s triumph couldn’t have been more improbable. He entered the week with just one tour victory to his name and had never finished higher than 75th in a major (he missed the cut at last month’s PGA Championship in Rochester and didn’t even qualify for the Masters).
Yet, all anyone could talk about was the audio quality of Sunday’s final round on NBC, with viewers distracted by a mysterious buzzing that never stopped.
Watching the U.S. Open and the background noise is so annoying.
— Catherine E. (@CatherineUSA1) June 18, 2023
The humming sound picked up by NBC’s microphones could have been a generator (television towers tend to require a lot of electricity), though others suspect the culprit was nearby air traffic from LAX.
Either way, it drove the audience up a wall, feeling like Dennis Reynolds on an episode of Family Fight.
It’s a shame Clark’s coronation was spoiled by poor audio, making for a frustrating viewing experience. Call it an occupational hazard of staging a major tournament in the heart of America’s second-largest city.
Fortunately, for our collective eardrums, that will not be the case this week when TPC River Highlands hosts the Travelers Championship in rural Cromwell, Connecticut.