LOS ANGELES — With the globe’s best golfers teeing it up mere miles from Hollywood, Wyndham Clark had his own script in mind in the U.S. Open.
In front of him was Rory McIlroy, one of the sport’s biggest talents who looked ready to end his perplexing nine-year drought in the majors. Next to him in the final group Sunday was Rickie Fowler, a Southern California native who broke out of a three-year slump and was poised to finally win his first major championship.
Clark carried a message from his late mother — “Play big,” she always told him — and the belief he could compete with anyone on any stage. No stage was bigger than a U.S. Open on the edge of Beverly Hills. That’s where Clark delivered clutch saves, a signature shot that gave him control, and the steady nerves to hold off McIlroy and become a major champion.
“I feel like I belong on this stage,” Clark said after finishing off a one-shot victory over McIlroy as each closed with a par round of 70 on the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club.
“Even two, three years ago when people didn’t know who I was, I felt like I could still play and compete against the best players in the world.”