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First career majors aren’t supposed to be easy.
It looked like it would be for Wyndham Clark, though, when his birdie on the 14th hole at Los Angeles Country Club pushed his U.S. Open lead over Rory McIlroy to a seemingly insurmountable three strokes ahead of the final stretch.
And then things got nervy.
The 29-year-old posted back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16 while McIlroy saved par on 17 with a stunning approach shot from the wrong fairway. Suddenly the lead was down to one, and the pressure was firmly on the golfer who just earned the first win of his PGA Tour career in May.
Clark responded with a clutch par save on the 17th and another par on the tournament’s final hole to end Sunday’s round with an even 70. He finished at -10 for the tournament and outdueled McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Rickie Fowler, Cameron Smith and others from a loaded leaderboard to capture the 2023 U.S. Open crown:
1. Wyndham Clark, -10
2. Rory McIlroy, -9
3. Scottie Scheffler, -7
4. Cameron Smith, -6
T5. Rickie Fowler, -5
T5. Tommy Fleetwood, -5
T5. Min Woo Lee, -5
PGA TOUR @PGATOUR
Dreams do come true ❤️ pic.twitter.com/p4MC6Ho037
It seemed like it was going to be a three-man race with no shortage of storylines entering the final round with Fowler and Clark tied at -10 and one stroke ahead of McIlroy.
Fowler has long been a fan favorite with 12 previous top-10 finishes at majors—including in 2014 when he finished in the top five in all four in the same year—but has never broken through as a major champion. And then there is McIlroy, who is well on his way to being remembered as one of the game’s greats but hasn’t won a major since he took home his fourth in 2014.
Their star power alone made Clark the underdog in terms of name recognition alone, and his best prior finish at a major was 75th. He did get the first win of his career in May at the Wells Fargo Championship, but battling McIlory on a Sunday in the U.S. Open is a different story.
Yet he seized the initial momentum with three birdies in his first six holes while Fowler stumbled to three bogeys through seven as the latter gradually fell out of realistic contention.
PGA TOUR @PGATOUR
Ridiculous approach from @Wyndham_Clark ?
He leads by three after another clutch birdie on 14 @USOpenGolf. pic.twitter.com/9cn7VdO9N7
PGA TOUR @PGATOUR
Golf shot. pic.twitter.com/3e1cABHwg2
It wouldn’t be a U.S. Open without things getting dicey, though, and that is exactly what happened for Clark on the par-five eighth. He just missed reaching the green in two but was buried in the thick grass. His third shot went nowhere, his fourth shot sailed over the green, and it reached a point where saving bogey through adversity like he did was impressive.
Throw in notable par saves on Nos. 9 and 11, and Clark passed a significant test while protecting the lead.
That stretch also opened the door for McIlroy to potentially make a run, but he missed a short birdie putt on No. 8 and medium-length birdie putts on Nos. 9, 10 and 11 as he continued to rack up solid-but-unspectacular pars following an opening birdie.
Kyle Boone @kyletheboone
pic.twitter.com/1nUmZE6NT1
No Laying Up @NoLayingUp
Bad Rory wedge and a miraculous break and he still makes 6. Just a gut wrenched.
All those missed chances would inevitably come back to haunt him on the 14th. Even with a massive break that came via a free drop when his shot embedded in the ground by the bunker, he still missed an ensuing par putt on the same hole Clark birdied to push the lead to a commanding three.
It was anything but a formality from there, but the victor had proverbial ice in his veins on the closing two-hole stretch to become a major champion.
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