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SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Wyndham Clark avoided blowing the largest 54-hole lead in U.S. Open history, weathering the storm to shoot 3-over 73 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Sunday and hang on for a one-stroke victory over Sam Burns and become a two-time winner of his national championship.
Clark canned a 25-foot birdie at the par-5 16th, pumped his right fist and screamed, "Let's go," as the cushion he needed to win grew to two.
No 54-hole leader at the U.S. Open had ever blown a six-shot lead but Clark threatened to become the first as he struggled to three bogeys on his first seven holes and his once commanding advantage shrunk to one. On another sunny, windswept day on Long Island’s East End, Burns dug into the lead with four birdies of his own in the first eight holes, including a 50-foot putt at No.8, as he attempted to match Arnold Palmer in 1960 with the largest final-round comeback in U.S. Open history after starting the day seven strokes back.
Clark, 32, who previously won his national championship in 2023, didn’t make his first birdie on Sunday until the 10th hole when he flipped a three-quarter wedge from 75 yards that skipped past the hole and spun to 4 feet. When Burns missed a short par putt at 15, Clark’s lead grew to three but Burns responded with a birdie at the par-5 16th and sat in the clubhouse trailing by one before Clark delivered his knockout punch at 16.
Burns, 29, was bidding not only for his first major but his first Tour victory in three years. He had a 10-foot birdie chance at 17 but pushed it to the right and dropped his putter in shock when his 16-foot birdie bid at 18 failed to fall. Burns signed for 3-under 67.
His pal, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who he shared a house with this week, celebrated his 30th birthday but his putter didn’t deliver many birdies as a present. Scheffler bogeyed the first and made a two-putt birdie at the par-5 fifth. He went to the back nine trailing by four in pursuit of becoming just the seventh player to complete the career Grand Slam. He made a birdie at No. 10 to match Clark but that proved to be his final one of the day. He shot 1-over 71 and finished T-4 at even-par 280 with J.T. Poston (67) and Keith Mitchell, who carded four straight rounds of 70.
Clark did as much to win the title on Thursday evening after the wind calmed down and he posted 6-under 64, the lowest score in the first round of a U.S. Open at Shinnecock. On Friday, he drained a 33-foot birdie putt on 18 for a 1-under 69 and stretched the lead on Saturday with one incredible par save after another and the shot of the championship – a cut 3-wood from 275 yards at the par-5 16th that stopped 3 feet from the hole for an eagle.
What a difference a year made for Clark, who missed the cut at last year’s Open at Oakmont and trashed a locker in frustration. A photo of the locker went viral and Clark's petulant behavior suddenly made him a villain. Oakmont made it known that he was persona non grata and required him to pay for the repairs, make a charitable contribution to the charity of their choice and attend anger management classes.
With a new girlfriend, a new caddie and a new mallet putter that transformed him into a modern-day version of Retief Goosen, the South African who had 11 one-putt greens en route to victory at Shinnecock in 2004, Clark has found a better mental space. He won last month at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson thanks to a final-round 60 and entered the Open on a heater.
The continuity in Clark’s game – and his life – has been mental coach Julie Elion, who he has credited with helping him reach his potential in 2023. She got him back on track, telling him to remind himself how good he is every time he heard something negative, which was a regular occurrence all week.
“It’s not what happens to us; it’s how we respond to what happens,” Elion said she told him before the championship began. “This is your rodeo! You create your own inner world of confidence and joy.”
Clark would need to be mentally tough because the fans were relentless in rooting against him. Caddie Dave Pelekoudas kept telling him on nearly every shot to “stay in the process.”
Clark made a nervy bogey at the second and somehow escaped with a par at the fourth after hitting a hosel-rocket out of the right fairway bunker that hit the only paved road through the course and bounced twice to the right. But Clark pitched on to 15 feet and poured in the putt, clenching his right fist. But there would be more mistakes. His third shot overshot the green at the par-5 fifth and his pitch returned to his feet for another birdie. His putter finally let him down when he missed a 4-foot par putt at No. 7. He needed another Houdini-like recovery at nine to tour the front in 3-over 39.
It wasn’t pretty but Clark, who took three putts from 62 feet at 17 to trim his lead to one, managed to par the last to finish off his round and post a 72-hole aggregate of 4-under 276.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Wyndham Clark hangs on to win 2026 US Open at Shinnecock
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Clark canned a 25-foot birdie at the par-5 16th, pumped his right fist and screamed, "Let's go," as the cushion he needed to win grew to two.
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No 54-hole leader at the U.S. Open had ever blown a six-shot lead but Clark threatened to become the first as he struggled to three bogeys on his first seven holes and his once commanding advantage shrunk to one. On another sunny, windswept day on Long Island’s East End, Burns dug into the lead with four birdies of his own in the first eight holes, including a 50-foot putt at No.8, as he attempted to match Arnold Palmer in 1960 with the largest final-round comeback in U.S. Open history after starting the day seven strokes back.
Clark, 32, who previously won his national championship in 2023, didn’t make his first birdie on Sunday until the 10th hole when he flipped a three-quarter wedge from 75 yards that skipped past the hole and spun to 4 feet. When Burns missed a short par putt at 15, Clark’s lead grew to three but Burns responded with a birdie at the par-5 16th and sat in the clubhouse trailing by one before Clark delivered his knockout punch at 16.
Burns, 29, was bidding not only for his first major but his first Tour victory in three years. He had a 10-foot birdie chance at 17 but pushed it to the right and dropped his putter in shock when his 16-foot birdie bid at 18 failed to fall. Burns signed for 3-under 67.
His pal, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who he shared a house with this week, celebrated his 30th birthday but his putter didn’t deliver many birdies as a present. Scheffler bogeyed the first and made a two-putt birdie at the par-5 fifth. He went to the back nine trailing by four in pursuit of becoming just the seventh player to complete the career Grand Slam. He made a birdie at No. 10 to match Clark but that proved to be his final one of the day. He shot 1-over 71 and finished T-4 at even-par 280 with J.T. Poston (67) and Keith Mitchell, who carded four straight rounds of 70.
Clark did as much to win the title on Thursday evening after the wind calmed down and he posted 6-under 64, the lowest score in the first round of a U.S. Open at Shinnecock. On Friday, he drained a 33-foot birdie putt on 18 for a 1-under 69 and stretched the lead on Saturday with one incredible par save after another and the shot of the championship – a cut 3-wood from 275 yards at the par-5 16th that stopped 3 feet from the hole for an eagle.
What a difference a year made for Clark, who missed the cut at last year’s Open at Oakmont and trashed a locker in frustration. A photo of the locker went viral and Clark's petulant behavior suddenly made him a villain. Oakmont made it known that he was persona non grata and required him to pay for the repairs, make a charitable contribution to the charity of their choice and attend anger management classes.
With a new girlfriend, a new caddie and a new mallet putter that transformed him into a modern-day version of Retief Goosen, the South African who had 11 one-putt greens en route to victory at Shinnecock in 2004, Clark has found a better mental space. He won last month at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson thanks to a final-round 60 and entered the Open on a heater.
The continuity in Clark’s game – and his life – has been mental coach Julie Elion, who he has credited with helping him reach his potential in 2023. She got him back on track, telling him to remind himself how good he is every time he heard something negative, which was a regular occurrence all week.
“It’s not what happens to us; it’s how we respond to what happens,” Elion said she told him before the championship began. “This is your rodeo! You create your own inner world of confidence and joy.”
Clark would need to be mentally tough because the fans were relentless in rooting against him. Caddie Dave Pelekoudas kept telling him on nearly every shot to “stay in the process.”
Clark made a nervy bogey at the second and somehow escaped with a par at the fourth after hitting a hosel-rocket out of the right fairway bunker that hit the only paved road through the course and bounced twice to the right. But Clark pitched on to 15 feet and poured in the putt, clenching his right fist. But there would be more mistakes. His third shot overshot the green at the par-5 fifth and his pitch returned to his feet for another birdie. His putter finally let him down when he missed a 4-foot par putt at No. 7. He needed another Houdini-like recovery at nine to tour the front in 3-over 39.
It wasn’t pretty but Clark, who took three putts from 62 feet at 17 to trim his lead to one, managed to par the last to finish off his round and post a 72-hole aggregate of 4-under 276.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Wyndham Clark hangs on to win 2026 US Open at Shinnecock
Continue reading...
