Wyndham Clark won the 126th U.S. Open Championship by one stroke over Sam Burns at Shinnecock Hills. This win is Clark’s second of the season and the second U.S. Open victory of his career (2023).
Clark becomes the ninth wire-to-wire (no ties) winner of the U.S. Open and first since Martin Kaymer in 2014. The day started with Clark having a six-stroke lead that quickly evaporated to one stroke after his opening five holes.
Burn set the clubhouse score at 3-under after a final round 67. His blunder of the round was missing a 6-foot par putt on the 15th hole to drop a shot. His birdie putts on the 17th and 18th holes each missed by inches.
The defining moment of the day came on the 16th hole when Clark hit a wayward drive into the fescue on the right side. After his second shot got him back into the fairway, his third shot found the back of the green. His birdie putt from 24-feet dropped into the hole to give him a two-stroke lead. A missed par put from 6-feet gave Clark a one-stroke lead with one hole to play.
Just like in his first U.S. Open victory, Clark lagged his birdie putt to inches of the hole for a tap-in par. His final round of 73 (+3) marks the highest final round by a U.S. Open champion since Graeme McDowell in 2010 (74).
During his round Clark had to deal with crowds booing him and cheering for his bad shots. He had this to say about the fans in New York.
“They definitely didn’t want me to win. It’s pretty rare in an Open championship or a major to have fans kind of boo against your shots or cheer for bad shots. That was tough, but sometimes being the underdog is nice. I was [one] in ’23, and I kind of did the same thing. Anytime someone said something negative to me, I replaced it with something positive. You know, some of it is self-deserved. I kind of brought it on myself, but I also get it, too.”
Clark is referring to his locker room incident at the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont when he missed the cut. Out of anger, he damaged the historic locker and was banned from the property. He was also seen throwing his driver at the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow a month prior. Needless to say, he lost the respect of plenty of fans over the last 12 months.
Burns seemed to have the crowd’s support and now has four top-10 finishes in his last nine major championship starts. Tom Kim finished third at 1-under for the tournament. Rounding out the top 5 were Scottie Scheffler, J.T. Poston and Keith Mitchell. Scheffler was trying to become the seventh person to complete the Career Grand Slam. Mitchell became the first player in the U.S. Open history to shoot four rounds of even par.
Jackson Koivun and Ryder Cowan tied for low amateur of the tournament at 5-over. Koivun’s 68 (-2) is the lowest final round by an amateur at the U.S. Open since Viktor Hovland shot 67 in 2019; he is the first amateur to break 70 in the final round in a U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. The next time we see Koivun, he’ll be a professional.
The PGA Tour heads to Connecticut for the last Signature Event of the year. Keegan Bradley won the 2025 Travelers Championship and will look to defend his title against a field that includes eight of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Rankings.
