Wyndham Clark edges out McIlroy to win US Open

Final round

Wyndham Clark overcame a late wobble to hold off Rory McIlroy and claim a maiden major title with a one-shot victory at the 123rd US Open.

Clark, who only made his PGA Tour breakthrough last month at the Wells Fargo Championship, took a share of the lead into the final round at Los Angeles Country Club and never relinquished top spot during a gripping Sunday.

The American held a three-shot lead with four holes to play but saw that lead cut to one after back-to-back bogeys, although Clark recovered to close a level-par 70 and secure the biggest victory of his career.

Clark ended on 10 under, one shot clear of McIlroy who only made one birdie all day as he endured another frustrating putting performance. World No 1 Scottie Scheffler was three strokes back in third ahead of Open champion Cameron Smith.

McIlroy made the ideal start with a two-putt birdie at the first and temporarily moved into a share of the lead when Clark, playing in the final group, cancelled out an opening-hole birdie by three-putting from long range at the par-four second.

The Northern Irishman burned a 12-foot birdie chance at the third and fell behind when Clark slotted in from five feet at the fourth, with McIlroy staying within one after hitting the pin with a 110-foot putt from off the fifth green on his way to saving par.

Clark got up and down from the rough at the driveable sixth hole to move two clear but got into difficulty at the par-five eighth, where he was unable to dislodge his ball from thick grass near the green and then had to hit a perfect pitch to set up a clutch bogey.

McIlroy missed from four feet at the eighth and squandered another birdie opportunity at the ninth, seeing him turn in 34, as Clark remained one ahead after finishing his front nine with a miraculous save from the thick grass.

Clark produced more short-game magic to scramble a par at the 11th, while McIlroy fell further behind with a messy bogey at the par-five 14th despite getting free relief from an embedded lie.

A two-putt birdie on the same par five temporarily moved Clark three clear, only for the American to give McIlroy hope by bogeying the par-three next and then finding the fairway bunker off the 16th tee on his way to another dropped shot.

McIlroy converted from seven feet to save par at the 16th but was unable to find a birdie over his closing two holes, leaving him on nine under, as Clark two-putted from 60 feet at the par-four last to complete an emotional victory.

Scheffler also carded a level-par 70 to end the week on seven under, his fourth consecutive top-three finish, while Smith made three birdies in a five-hole stretch on his back nine to move to fourth on seven under.

Fowler took a share of the lead into the final day but quickly lost ground with three bogeys in his first seven holes, with the five-time PGA Tour winner seeing a birdie at the par-five eighth undone by successive dropped shots from the 11th.

The 34-year-old took advantage of the par-five 14th but bogeyed two of his last three holes to drop back to five under and a share of fifth alongside Min Woo Lee and Tommy Fleetwood, who became the first player in US Open history to card multiple rounds of 63.

Jon Rahm jumped inside the top 10 with a five-under 65 and Matt Fitzpatrick signed off his title defence in a share of 17th alongside PGA champion Brooks Koepka after a level-par 70.

McIlroy has already switched his focus to ending his major drought at The 151st Open next month after narrowly missing out on victory at the US Open.

“I’m getting closer,” McIlroy said. “The more I keep putting myself in these positions, sooner or later it’s going to happen for me. Just got to regroup and get focused for Hoylake in a few weeks’ time.

“The last real two chances I’ve had at majors I feel like have been pretty similar performances, like St Andrews last year and then here. Not doing a lot wrong, but I didn’t make a birdie since the first hole today.

“Just trying to be a little more, I guess, efficient with my opportunities and my looks. When you’re in contention going into the final round of a US Open, I played the way I wanted to play. There were two or three shots over the course of the round that I’d like to have back.

“I’ll play Travelers [Championship] next week, I’ll play the Scottish Open, but I’m focused on making sure that I’m ready to go for Liverpool.”

Clark’s thoughts turned to his dearly departed mum as he dedicated his maiden major title to her memory.

Clark’s mum Lise died of breast cancer when aged 54 in 2013, telling her son before she passed that she wanted him to ‘play big’, a mantra Clark said has stuck with him ever since.

“I just felt like my mum was watching over me today,” Clark said after clinching victory.

“She can’t be here – I miss you mum – but I just feel like I’ve worked so hard and dreamed about this moment for so long.

“There’s been so many times I’ve visualised about being here in front of you guys and winning this championship. I just feel like it was my time.

“She called me ‘winner’ when I was little, so she would just say, ‘I love you, winner’. She had that mantra of play big.

“I know my mom is proud of me. She’s always been proud of me, regardless of how I’m doing or what I’m doing.

“All I really wish is that my mom could be here and I could just hug her and we could celebrate together.

“She was so positive and such a motivator in what she did. She’d be crying tears of joy.”

The PGA Tour heads to TPC River Highlands next for the Travelers Championship, with McIlroy and Scheffler part of a strong field scheduled to feature 23 of the world’s top 30.

Three of the four men’s majors are now completed, with The 151st Open taking place at Royal Liverpool from July 20-23