LOS ANGELES — Wyndham Clark won his first major golf title on Sunday, overcoming late final-round jitters to capture the 123rd U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club.
Clark, 29, finished at 10-under-par 270 at the par-70, 7,421-yard course with a final-round 70 to defeat Rory McIlroy by one shot. Clark two-putted from 60 feet at No. 18 to clinch the title.
McIlroy finished with a final-round 70 to finish at 271. Rickie Fowler, the co-leader after three rounds, shot 75 to finish in a fifth-place tie with Min-Woo Lee.
Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked golfer, finished in third place with a final-round 70 to finish at 273, one shot ahead of Cameron Smith.
Clark, of Denver, who won his first PGA Tour event last month at the Wells Fargo Championship, had never finished higher than tied for 76th in the previous six major championships he competed in, Golfweek reported. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship last month at Oak Hill.
“I’ve dreamed of this moment for so long,” Clark said after the match. “I just felt like it was my time.”
Clark played a consistent front nine on Sunday after sharing the third-round lead with Rickie Fowler. He had three birdies and two bogeys to go out in 1-under-par 35, then added a birdie at the par-5 14th hole to take a three-shot lead when Rory McIlroy bogeyed the 14th hole.
Wyndham, however, pulled five of his tee shots to the left during the back nine to give McIlroy a chance.
Clark bogeyed the 15th hole to trim his lead over McIlroy to two shots. He dumped his tee shot at No. 16 into a fairway bunker and lipped out at No. 16 to see his lead dwindle to one shot. But he tapped in for par at No. 17 to head to the final hole with a precarious lead.
McIlroy, 34, has not won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship, Golfweek reported. The four-time major winner also took first place at the 2011 U.S. Open, the 2012 PGA Championship and the 2014 British Open.
Three weeks ago he shared the lead at the Memorial Tournament heading into the final round but shot a 3-over-par 75 to fall into a tie for seventh place.
McIlroy opened the final round with a birdie and then parred the next 12 holes. But he embedded a shot on No. 13 into the bunker and had to take a free drop. He blasted out and then missed a 9.5-foot putt for par to settle for his first bogey in 18 holes and fall two shots behind Clark. He saved par at No. 16 with his longest par putt of the round to remain two shots behind.
McIlroy had a chance to tie for the lead at No. 17, but his putt from off the fringe slid to the right and he had to settle for par. He missed a chance to tie for the lead at No. 18 with a 41-foot par.
Fowler, who opened the tournament with a 62 on Thursday to become the first golfer in the major’s history to score that low, was the co-leader entering the final round but faltered on the front nine Sunday with three bogeys. He birdied No. 8 to go out at 2-over-par 37.
It continued another round of frustration for Fowler, who has never won a golf major.
In 2014, Fowler tied for second at the U.S. Open and The Championship Open and was tied for third at the PGA Championship that same year, Golfweek reported. He finished second at the Masters in 2018, losing to Patrick Reed by one shot.
Fowler has not won a PGA Tour event since the 2019 Waste Management Open, Golf Digest reported.