US Open, final leaderboard
Champion: -4Â W Clark (US)
Selected: -3 S Burns (US); -1 T Kim (Kor); Level S Scheffler (US); +1 T Hatton (Eng); +2 J Rose (Eng), A Rai (Eng), J Parry (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng); +4 M Fitzpatrick (Eng); +5 A Fitzpatrick (Eng); +6 R McIlroy (NI); +7 R MacIntyre (Sco)
At times on Sunday at Shinnecock Hills it felt like becoming a case of if, and not when, Wyndham Clark would collect a second US Open title and the moment he has craved since smashing up a locker at last year’s championship.
Clark, imperious in building a six-shot lead over the first three days at this Long Island track, looked a shoo-in to win a second major.
But he showed frailty early in round four, while some of the notoriously feisty New York fans were intent on letting their fellow American know he wasn’t their favourite.
It is unclear whether they had not forgotten Clark’s injudicious outburst at Oakmont 12 months ago, or were simply hoping to watch his playing partner Scottie Scheffler become the seventh man to win the career Grand Slam of all four majors.
But the jeers aimed towards Clark, as he stumbled to a one-shot victory over compatriot Sam Burns, made for uncomfortable viewing, with world number one Scheffler saying: “The crowd was tough. New Yorkers are tough people.
“Sometimes it can get a little too much when balls are going off greens and you start hearing cheers. That felt a bit much to me.
“It shows a lot about Wyndham, how he handled not only this golf course but the crowd as well and he is a well-deserving champion.”
‘New York didn’t really like me’
While many fans were against Clark, Scheffler sportingly acknowledged his playing partner’s terrific approach to the 10th which led to a birdieSince the Masters was first played in 1934, only Greg Norman had let slip a six-shot 54-hole lead at a major, when Nick Faldo overturned the deficit to claim his third Green Jacket in 1996.
But by the end of the seventh hole at Shinnecock Hills, it looked like Clark might add to that statistic.
The 2023 champion was wobbling. His massive advantage had evaporated to a single stroke with Burns in hot pursuit.
Crucially though, nobody was able to draw level with Clark. And while there were several more plot twists, it was only when he holed a stunning 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th that it felt like he would cross the finishing line as the first winner of the tournament since Martin Kaymer in 2014 to lead from the first round to the last.
Even then there was drama. A three-putt bogey on the 17th left him needing to par the last, which he did after knocking a superb 52-foot birdie putt to within inches of the hole.
“The first one was a breakthrough of knowing I can do it. This one was a lot of redemption,” said Clark after winning his second major.
“Last year was so tough, a terrible year. I left [last year’s US Open at Oakmont] in a shambles. It’s amazing what a year can do. I’m leaving here as a champion and I’m just so blessed.”
This victory will not fully atone for his infamous meltdown after missing the halfway cut a year ago when he received a ban from the Pennsylvania club until he underwent anger management therapy and paid for the repairs to the two lockers he damaged.
And there were occasions on Sunday, when it appeared like his subsequent acts of contrition had not cut through to the galleries judging by their reactions to him.
A huge number of fans vociferously celebrated Clark’s bogey on the seventh, while others were reportedly ejected from the course because of their hostility towards him.
It was far from the scenes Europe’s players faced at nearby Bethpage Black during last September’s Ryder Cup but Clark had noise to block out.
“New York didn’t really like me,” Clark added.
“I get it. Some of it is self-deserved. I did some unfortunate things last year that I really regret. I’ve been sorry multiple times and I’m still sorry. Hopefully I can win you guys over eventually. I get it. They were rooting for Scottie.”
