Wyndham Clark Wins the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, Holding Off Sam Burns by One

Wyndham Clark spent four days building a lead at Shinnecock Hills and most of Sunday trying not to lose it. In the end, he kept just enough of it.

Clark shot a 3-over 73 in the final round and won the 126th U.S. Open at 4-under 276, one shot ahead of a charging Sam Burns. Tom Kim finished alone in third at 1-under 279. Scottie Scheffler, playing alongside Clark in the final group on his 30th birthday with the career Grand Slam on the line, shot 71 and tied for fourth at even par with Keith Mitchell and J.T. Poston. It is Clark's second U.S. Open title, three years after his first at Los Angeles Country Club.

Six Shots, Then One

Clark started Sunday six clear and the cushion evaporated fast. He made three bogeys in his first seven holes, and the AP had his lead down to a single shot after five holes. A tee shot that rolled into a bunker at the seventh cost him another and left him one ahead again. He kept the round from unraveling with par putts of 15 feet at the fourth and 10 feet at the sixth, per the USGA, but the momentum was all going the other way.

The 10th was the reset. Clark hit a wedge to 4 feet, made birdie and was two clear. He gave a shot back at the 13th after flying a pitching wedge long, and the tension stayed thick into the closing stretch.

Then came the putt that won the championship. At the par-5 16th, Clark drove into the thick fescue, hacked out and still holed a 25-footer for birdie to go two ahead with two to play. He immediately three-putted the par-3 17th, so he stood on the 18th tee with a one-shot lead. From 52 feet on the final green, he lagged it close and tapped in for the par that clinched it.

"New York didn't really like me," Clark said during the trophy presentation, per the AP and the PGA TOUR.

Burns Brings the Heat

Burns started the day seven shots back and made it a fight almost immediately. He birdied four of his first eight holes, and suddenly the six-shot runaway was a real tournament. A bogey at the ninth slowed him, and a three-putt bogey at the 15th hurt, but Burns answered with an 18-foot birdie at 16 to keep the pressure on.

He had two looks to force a playoff. A 10-footer for birdie at 17 missed. Then at the last, his 17-footer caught the edge and stayed out. His 67 gave him a third straight top-10 finish in a U.S. Open, a year after Burns carried the 54-hole lead at Oakmont, as we covered in our 2025 third-round recap. He is still looking for his first major.

Scheffler's Birthday Wish Falls Short

The setup was perfect for Scheffler: final group, Father's Day, his birthday, and a chance to complete the career Grand Slam. It never quite got going. He bogeyed the first after going over the green, birdied the par-5 fifth, and was never closer than three shots, according to the AP. A three-putt bogey at the 14th, after his 30-footer for birdie ran about 6 feet by, effectively ended it.

Kim, meanwhile, earned something big. The qualifier came in ranked 141st in the world, shot an even-par 70 and finished alone in third, which locks him into next year's U.S. Open.

A Redemption Story

The backdrop made this one more than a trophy. A year ago, Clark missed the cut at Oakmont and lashed out in the locker room on his way out, and the AP reported that the club banned him until he made amends. He apologized, but the reputation stuck, and the crowd on Long Island let him hear it this week. Clark acknowledged afterward that the fans were pulling for Scheffler and said he understood why.

Since then he rebuilt his swing with coach Pat Coyner and leaned on sports psychologist Julie Elion, who told the PGA TOUR that Clark had essentially convinced himself to believe again. A month ago he closed with a 60 to win THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. Now he has two wins in a month, a second major and, per the AP, a spot at No. 8 in the world.

The Record Book

Clark became the ninth player to win the U.S. Open after leading outright after every round, and the first since Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst in 2014. His 276 matched Retief Goosen's 2004 total as the lowest winning score at Shinnecock. His 73 was the highest final round by a U.S. Open champion since Graeme McDowell's 74 at Pebble Beach, according to the AP. Only Clark, Burns and Kim finished under par, the most ever in a U.S. Open at Shinnecock.

He leaves with a $4.5 million winner's check, the Jack Nicklaus Medal and exemptions into the next 10 U.S. Opens.

Down the leaderboard, Mitchell completed a strange and steady week with four straight rounds of 70, Joaquin Niemann closed with a 66 to finish tied for seventh, and Xander Schauffele's tie for 11th kept alive his record of top-15 finishes in every one of his U.S. Open starts. Ryder Cowan and Jackson Koivun shared low amateur honors at 5-over 285.

Up Next

The U.S. Open heads to Pebble Beach in 2027. For now, it belongs to a player who was heckled, doubted and nearly caught, and who still walked off the 72nd green with the trophy.

Relive the week in our Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3 recaps. Final results are on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the USGA's final-round report (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR, USGA (usopen.com), AP, Sky Sports. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.