Wyndham Clark won the US Open at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, New York, on Sunday. He converted a six-shot lead after 54 holes into a one-shot triumph after 72. He did this while playing the final round in the company of Scottie Scheffler, whose 30th birthday it was – and he had something more substantial than cake on his mind by way of a present.
So we had one man aiming to complete the career Grand Slam; the other seeking to win his national championship for the second time in three years, and do it wire-to-wire. From a historical perspective, even if the chief protagonists would likely have not been aware of this, on the final day there was an analogy to be drawn with a major championship of 30 years ago. Then Greg Norman went into the last round of the Masters with a six-shot lead over Nick Faldo. On the Sunday, Faldo shot 67 to Norman’s 78 to claim his third green jacket. Could Scheffler do something like that to Clark at this US Open?
We now know the answer. As a statistical footnote, Norman was the world No. 1 at the time of his demise at Augusta. This time it was the pursuer, Scheffler, who was ranked officially as the best golfer in the world. But he could only manage a closing 71, one over par. It was left to Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader at Oakmont last year, to carry the fight to Clark. He birdied four of the first eight holes and after Clark missed a short par putt on the 7th, his previously handsome advantage had shrivelled to a solitary stroke.
On the back nine, Clark displayed terrific mental fortitude. He was never caught and made two birdies of his own. Of itself, that’s not too remarkable. But what was extraordinary was the heckling he received from a large number of the spectators. On Saturday evening he had been asked about the comparatively sparse crowds who had stayed to see him finish. He replied: “It was unfortunate it got a little flat. It made it tough to stay focused because it seemed like everyone was leaving.”
On Sunday, indifference was frequently replaced by dislike. “Man, they definitely didn’t want me to win,” Clark observed afterwards. Whether this goes back to his smashing up of a locker in a huge temper tantrum during last year’s US Open cannot be known, but for sure Clark’s mistakes were routinely cheered. We are, of course, not talking Ryder Cup-level abuse here (heck, Clark was not on the US team that lost at Bethpage last autumn), but it was a surprise that such treatment should be meted out to one of their own. Voluble sections of this particular New York crowd seemed to want anyone else to win. In which they were ultimately to be disappointed.
When it was over, Burns had shot 67 for a total of 277, one shot higher than the tally Clark had posted after his 73. Since World War II, only two golfers had won two US Opens in as few as six attempts: Lee Trevino and Brooks Koepka. Clark now makes it a trio. (Ernie Els managed it in only five goes, but one cannot allow a fact like that to get in the way of such a neat stat.) Scheffler will have to wait until Pebble Beach next June for his next at the Grand Slam.