US Open: With a one-shot win at the 123rd US Open, Wyndham Clark held off Rory McIlroy and claimed his first major title.
Clark, who made his PGA Tour debut at the Wells Fargo Championship last month, carried a share of the lead into the final round at Los Angeles Country Club and never surrendered the lead on a thrilling Sunday.
With four holes to play, the American maintained a three-shot lead, but that advantage was trimmed to one after back-to-back bogeys, but Clark rebounded to close with a level-par 70 and win the largest victory of his career.
Clark finished one stroke ahead of McIlroy, who only scored one birdie all day due to another poor putting performance. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finished third, three shots ahead of Open champion Cameron Smith.
Clark’s assertion of a substantial breakthrough
McIlroy got off to a good start with a two-putt birdie at the first, and he briefly shared the lead when Clark, who was playing in the penultimate group, three-putted from long range at the par-four second.
The Northern Irishman missed a 12-foot birdie chance at the third and trailed when Clark holed out from five feet at the fourth, but McIlroy stayed within one after striking 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 on the driveable sixth hole to go two ahead, but he ran into trouble on the par-five eighth, where he couldn’t get his ball out of thick grass near the green and had to play a beautiful pitch to set up a clutch bogey.
McIlroy lost a birdie chance from four feet at the eighth and another at the ninth, turning in 34, while Clark remained one ahead after completing his front nine with a stunning save from the thick grass.
Clark used more short-game wizardry to scramble a par at the 11th, while McIlroy trailed with a bogey at the par-five 14th despite enjoying free relief from an embedded lay.
Clark briefly pulled three shots away with a two-putt birdie on the same par five, only for the American to offer McIlroy hope by bogeying the par-three next and then finding the fairway bunker off the 16th tee on his way to another dropped ball.
McIlroy converted from seven feet to preserve par on the 16th, but was unable to make a birdie on his next two holes, leaving him on nine under, while Clark two-putted from 60 feet on the par-four 18th to secure an emotional triumph.
For golf live score, golf championship, golf today live, latest golf news, golf daily live, all golf tournament update, golf live update and other golf news follow Livematchupdates.com.
