The final round of the U.S. Open usually falls on Father’s Day, but Wyndham Clark spent plenty of Sunday thinking about his mother.
As he made his way around the Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course throughout the week, Clark only wanted his late mother Lise Clark, who died of breast cancer in 2013, to be there to soak it all in with him.
“She’d be crying tears of joy,” Clark said Sunday. “She called me Winner when I was little, so she would just say, ‘I love you, Winner.'”
Now he’s a major championship winner.
Clark posted an even-par 70 to outlast Rory McIlroy, announce himself on the major stage and claim the 123rd U.S. Open for the first major title of his career on Sunday in Los Angeles.
With a final total of 10-under 270, Clark won by a single shot over the Northern Irishman desperate to end his nine-year major drought. At the 72nd hole, Clark lag-putted from 60 feet to set up a tap-in par, unleashing a fount of emotion amid his celebration.
McIlroy also shot a 70 and didn’t make a birdie after the first hole, never putting enough pressure on the less experienced Clark.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (70 on Sunday) placed third at 7 under, Australia’s Cameron Smith (67) was fourth at 6 under and Rickie Fowler shot a 75 to drop into a tie for fifth at 5 under with Tommy Fleetwood of England (63) and Min Woo Lee of Australia (67).
In his fifth full season on the PGA Tour, Clark won his first tournament last month when he beat a strong field at the Wells Fargo Championship. The 29-year-old from Denver nonetheless flew under the radar entering the week, especially after Fowler and Xander Schauffele opened the championship with the first two rounds of 62 in U.S. Open history.
“I feel like I belong on this stage, and even two, three years ago when people didn’t know who I was, I felt like I could still play and compete against the best players in the world,” Clark said. “I felt like I’ve shown that this year.”
Clark and Fowler held the 54-hole lead at 10 under after Fowler missed a short par putt on the 18th Saturday night. They played in the final pairing for the second straight day Sunday, and it was understandable if the majority of fans were pulling for Fowler, a longtime PGA Tour fan favorite.
“My mental coach, Julie, told me, she goes, ‘Every time you hear someone chant Rickie, think of your goals and get cocky and go show them who you are,'” Clark said. “I did that. It was like 100 plus times today I reminded myself of the goals.
“Now maybe they’ll be chanting my name in the future.”
After a birdie-bogey start, Clark stuck his tee shot at the par-3 fourth to 5 feet and his approach at the par-4 sixth to 4 1/2 feet, converting both birdies to reach 12 under. At the par-5 eighth, he was unable to punch out of some grass nearly as tall as him on the first try, and he skied his next shot before winding up with a bogey 6.
Clark missed the green at the par-3 ninth but gave an emphatic fist pump when his 7-foot par putt dropped, the first of five enormous par saves in a row before the pivotal par-5 14th.
McIlroy’s approach shot at No. 14 fell dropped short in a greenside bunker, and even though he was given relief because his ball was embedded, he failed to save par from 11 feet. Clark followed behind him with a birdie, effectively a two-shot swing that gave Clark a three-shot cushion with four holes to play.
McIlroy made 12 straight pars before the 14th, missing 11 birdie putts in that span.
“When I bogeyed 14 and Wyndham birdied it, I felt like that was my chance sort of gone,” McIlroy said on the NBC broadcast.
Clark’s errant tee shots led to bogeys at each of the next two holes, though, and his resolve was tested when he pulled his approach at the 17th while clinging to a one-shot lead. He chipped to a few feet to save par.
Fowler set a 72-hole U.S. Open record with 23 birdies, but he also carded 18 bogeys, including seven on Sunday, after he had held at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds.
“I just didn’t have it today,” Fowler said. “Iron play was very below-average and didn’t make anything. That’s a big thing in majors, especially on a Sunday.”
It nevertheless was Fowler’s best major showing since a runner-up finish at the 2018 Masters. Fowler had not qualified for the U.S. Open in three years as he’s worked back from a career lull.
Earlier in the day, Fleetwood made two eagles en route to a 7-under 63, becoming the first player in history with two rounds of 63 at the U.S. Open. He also shot 63 in the final round at Shinnecock Hills in 2018, when that number was still the U.S. Open scoring record, to boost him to a second-place finish.
Tom Kim of South Korea (69) and Harris English (72) tied for eighth at 4 under. World No. 2 Jon Rahm of Spain shot a 65 and tied for 10th at 3 under with Schauffele (72), Dustin Johnson (72) and Austin Eckroat (65).
–Field Level Media
