Wyndham Clark refused to stop thinking he could win the U.S. Open on Sunday in Southampton, N.Y.
He recovered from a rough front nine and shot 3-over-par 73 to hang on to win the tournament for the second time in four years.
“It comes down to just believing that good things are going to happen and that you’re going to make the putt, and fortunately the ones I needed to make, I did,” Clark said.
His four-round total of 4-under 276 gave him a one-stroke victory at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
Clark’s six-shot advantage entering the day dwindled to one on multiple occasions, but he never lost the lead.
He is the third player to collect two U.S. Open victories since 2017 after Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. Clark outlasted Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy in 2023 at Los Angeles Country Club for his first major.
In between his two U.S. Open championships, Clark missed the 2025 cut at Oakmont. That result was punctuated when he damaged lockers in the golfer’s area, and was temporarily banned from the club.
“The first one was kind of just the breakthrough of knowing I can do it, and then this one was a lot of redemption,” Clark said. “Last year was so tough, a terrible year. I left this place in shambles, and it’s amazing what a year can do. I’m leaving here this Sunday as a champion, and I’m just so blessed.”
Runner-up Sam Burns shot 67 for a top-10 finish in the U.S. Open for the third year in a row.
“I think I did my best, and I did everything I could to have a chance to win today,” Burns said. “I started the day seven shots back. That’s very difficult to overcome, especially (against) someone who is playing as well as Wyndham has been playing.”
South Korea’s Tom Kim (70) was third at 1 under. J.T. Poston (67), Keith Mitchell (70) and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (71) shared fourth place at even par.
Clark never gave up the lead that he’d held since Thursday night. Yet he was in danger of becoming the first U.S. Open competitor to fail to win after leading by more than five shots.
“I played some ugly golf the last two days, but my putter and short game kind of kept me in it,” Clark said.
Clark became the 24th golfer to win the U.S. Open multiple times.
Burns missed a birdie putt on No. 18 with a chance to tie, while a few holes back, Clark’s tee shot on No. 16 went into the fescue. But Clark escaped the situation and ended up sinking a 24-foot putt for an unlikely birdie to extend the lead back to two shots.
“To make birdie there was honestly a bonus,” Clark said. “I just wanted to make par. That was one of the pivotal points of the tournament.”
Clark needed three putts on No. 17, taking a bogey to return the margin to one stroke. But he two-putted for par on No. 18, sinking a 9-inch putt to finish off his second victory of the year after he won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson last month.
After playing the front nine in a birdie-free 3-over par, Clark seemed to steady himself with a birdie on No. 10. His margin was back to one stroke after a bogey on No. 13 while Burns holed a 17 1/2-foot birdie putt on No. 16.
Kim continued to lurk, pulling within two shots of Clark with two holes to play before a bogey on the 17th tanked his chances. He said the experience was rewarding.
“This is my best finish in a major since the British Open in 2023 (when he tied for runner-up), so a lot of positives,” Kim said. “I think this is going to give me a big boost for the rest of the season.”
Scheffler, who was trying to complete the career Grand Slam on his 30th birthday, never made much of a move, with a three-putt bogey on No. 14 doing damage.
“I gave myself a decent amount of looks today,” Scheffler said. “Yeah, just a few shots. That’s really all it came down to.”
Earlier, Burns, one-third of the way through his round, was within three shots of Clark and pulled a stroke closer after his fourth birdie of the round on No. 8.
Poston won two weeks ago at the Memorial Tournament in his most recent outing. He said there were good possibilities Sunday.
“I felt like we were really good about being patient the first three days,” Poston said. “Then a little calmer winds out there today I felt like yielded maybe a few more birdies, so we felt like we could try and post a number.”
The best rounds of the day were 66s turned in by Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann. Niemann tied for seventh at 1 over, while Aberg was at 3 over and tied for 17th.
“We’re getting closer and closer,” Niemann said. “That’s the only direction I’ve seen since I started playing golf, that I always get closer to my goals and my dreams. I know it’s one step forward to that.”
–Field Level Media
