Wyndham Clark Wins Second U.S. Open After Six-Shot Lead Nearly Vanishes
A closing 73 should have cost him. Instead Wyndham Clark held off Sam Burns by a single stroke to claim his second U.S. Open title on a raucous Sunday at Shinnecock.
Wyndham Clark stood over a putt of nine inches on the 72nd hole at Shinnecock Hills on Sunday and tapped it in for a title he had spent the whole afternoon trying not to lose. The six-shot lead he carried into the final round was down to one. His closing 73 was the worst score of anyone near the top of the leaderboard. It was still enough.
Clark finished at 4 under par, 276, one stroke clear of Sam Burns, to win his second U.S. Open. At 32, he became the ninth player to lead the championship wire-to-wire and the 24th to win it more than once, adding Shinnecock to his 2023 victory at Los Angeles Country Club. He did it on Father's Day, in front of a New York gallery that had spent the day pulling against him.
The man everyone expected to run him down was standing next to him. Scottie Scheffler turned 30 on Sunday, and a win would have completed the career Grand Slam, and the gallery sang him "Happy Birthday" on the first tee and made its loyalties plain for the next five hours. Scheffler shot 71, made two birdies, and never got within three shots of the lead. The threat came instead from his closest friend.
Sam Burns played like a man with nothing to protect, because he had nothing to protect. Seven back at the start, he birdied three of his first five holes, rolled in a 49-footer at the 8th to reach 4 under, and signed for a 3-under 67. Twice down the stretch he had a putt to draw level: a 9-foot-9-inch birdie try at the par-3 17th, then a 16-foot-5-inch look at the last. Both slid by. Burns dropped to his knees on the 18th green, then sat in the scoring trailer with both hands on his head. The 29-year-old's runner-up finish was his best result in a major and his third consecutive top-10 at this championship. A year ago at Oakmont he had led after 36 and 54 holes and closed in 78.
That purse, the richest in the championship's history at $22.5 million, is a reminder of the stakes that now sit on top of the theatre. The U.S. Open keeps raising its prize fund as the professional game fights over players and audiences, and a second national title resets Clark's standing inside that economy as much as it does his record.
A win that doubled as an apology
Clark needed the redemption more than the money. He left Oakmont last year having damaged a pair of lockers, an incident that earned him a ban from the club, and he also threw a driver and damaged a sign at the PGA Championship. He has apologized repeatedly through this season. The crowd at Shinnecock had not forgotten. Spectators yelled "Get in the bunker!" as he made contact, even on putts, and NBC reported that hecklers were escorted off the property by police before 5 p.m.
"New York didn't really like me. I love you guys. But, you know, I get it. Some of it's self-deserved. I did some unfortunate things last year that I really regret."
Wyndham Clark, after winning the 2026 U.S. Open
He gave the crowd their due on Scheffler, too. They root for Scottie. The Grand Slam's only happened a few times. He's going to get it, he's the best player in the world.
Then the line that mattered to him: But today, it's my day.
Tom Kim closed with a 70 to finish alone in third at 1 under, the only other player to seriously test the lead before a bogey at the 17th ended his charge. Behind the leaderboard math, the day belonged to a player who has spent a year being told he was the villain, and who answered by refusing to hand the trophy back. His father, Randall, took a redeye from Denver to surprise him on the 18th. The hug, not the heckling, was the picture that lasted.
