Los Angeles, Calif. (WGR 550) - Wyndham Clark entered the 2023 U.S. Open having recently won his first PGA Tour title at the Well Fargo Championship just six weeks prior.
Sunday saw the 29-year-old breaking through at one of golf's major tournaments on the calendar, as he captured the 123rd U.S. Open with a 10-under overall score at Los Angeles Country Club in Southern California.
Clark entered Sunday's final round of the tournament in a tie for the lead at 10-under par with Rickie Fowler, and held a one-shot lead over past U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy. He was able to just stay ahead of the rest of the field, making smart and clutch shots to keep himself at the top of the leaderboard throughout Round 4.
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The win did not come so easy for Clark, though, as at one point with four holes left to play, he held a three-shot lead over McIlroy at 12-under par. Clark then had a couple of tough holes with back-to-back bogies on the 15th and 16th hole to drop back to 10-under.
While McIlroy was in contention throughout the entire day with some consistent golf, his bogey at the 14th cost him a shot at a playoff in the tournament. It was his only mistake of the afternoon on the scorecard after scoring an early birdie on Hole 1.
He finished the tournament at 9-under par after shooting an even score of 70 in the final round.
In the end, Clark was able to par the 17th and 18th holes to finish his Round 4 at even-par and seal the victory at 10-under overall. He captured the U.S. Open Trophy with an emotional win, and will have his named etched in the history books as a major champion.
As for Fowler, he had a disastrous final round with a 5-over score to put him at 5-under par for the tournament. While he set a U.S. Open record with the most birdies scored by a single golfer, he did not help himself with the mistakes he made, which included seven bogeys on Sunday.
Fowler ended the tournament in a tie for fifth place.
The world's No. 1 ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler, ended up finishing third with his 7-under overall score in the tournament. He was among the final four golfers to tee off on Sunday in Los Angeles, but he ended up also shooting an even-par score of 70 for his final round.
The round of the day belonged to Tommy Fleetwood, who climbed the leaderboard with a final round of 7-under par, finishing the tournament overall at 5-under par. That was good to get him in a tie for fifth place with Fowler and Min Woo Lee.
The fourth and final golf major of the 2023 calendar comes next month when The Open takes place at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, Merseyside, England. Round 1 of the 2023 Open will start Thursday, July 20 and conclude with the final round of action on Sunday, July 23.
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