Wyndham Clark secured a fairytale win at the U.S. Open, with the American sealing his first Major Championship after he held off the Challenge of Rory McIlroy to lift the trophy.
The 27-year-old, who only won his first professional title at last month’s Wells Fargo Championship, posted a closing level-par 70 to finish at ten under, one shot clear of McIlroy and three ahead of World Number One Scottie Scheffler.
“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,” he said. “I felt like I’ve shown that this year.
“I’ve come up close, and obviously everyone sees the person that hoists the trophy, but I’ve been trending in the right direction for a long time now. I’ve made a lot of cuts. I’ve had a handful of top 10s and top 20s, and I feel like I’ve been on a great trajectory to get to this place.
“Obviously it’s gone faster than I thought as far as just starting to do some stuff mentally that I’ve never done before, but I feel like I’m one of the best players in the world. Obviously this just shows what I believe can happen.
For McIlroy it was another near miss in a Major Championship despite a solid closing round.
The Northen Irishman, who last won a Major at 3,234 days ago at The Open Championship, found more Greens in Regulation than any other player during the final round, but was unable to exert enough pressure on Clark in LA.
“There are a couple of things I will rue,” he added. “The chip on 14 being one.
“It was really hard to get the ball close [to the holes] but I hung in there and just didn’t quite get the job done.
“I will keep coming back until I get another one.”
Cameron Smith was third at six under, a shot clear of Tommy Fleetwood – who became the first player to record two 63s at the U.S. Open – Min Woo Lee and Rickie Fowler.
