Sam Torrance: Breakthrough for Clark, heartbreak for McIlroy at US Open
An enormous win for Wyndham Clark and more heartbreak for Rory McIlroy – the 123rd US Open was an exhilarating watch that featured some sublime golf.
Clark won by one shot at Los Angeles Country Club on Sunday night, and while the margin was a fine one he had looked like a winner for most of the weekend.
Consecutive bogeys on the back nine cut his three-shot lead but the 29-year-old from Colorado, who only claimed his first PGA Tour title last month, never fluffed his lines in the shadow of the Hollywood Hills.
Clark was very solid despite never finishing in the top 75 in his six previous appearances at majors. He is not exactly a young kid, so that victory a few weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Championship clearly gave him a huge amount of self-belief. It’s amazing what winning can do for a player’s confidence.
Some of the saves that he made were unbelievable, including a chip at nine that rolled back down the green, while his second shot at 14, which set up a two-putt for birdie, was exquisite. His long putting was excellent too; he never seemed to have to work on a second putt.
This was a different US Open, with wider fairways than usual. But it still wasn’t easy, with so much danger lurking out there on LACC’s North Course.
For McIlroy, it was a very similar experience to his battle with Cameron Smith in last year’s Open Championship at St Andrews.
Like then, he was brilliant from tee to green, but so many of his putts wouldn’t drop. The Californian greens were much harder and faster, but he admitted himself that probably didn’t hit his second shots close enough.
Maybe he wasn’t aggressive enough but he was never far away. It was almost like he was hoping the others would fall away, like they used to around Jack Nicklaus – but Clark never did.
I agree with Rory’s assessment that he just needs to keep putting himself in these positions and he will end his nine-year wait for another major. There is no rhyme or reason why he hasn’t had a few more in that time.
Having set the early pace in LA, it didn’t quite happen for Rickie Fowler on Sunday. I don’t think he quite recovered from three-putting the 18th on Saturday.
It must have hurt to fall away but there is no doubt that Fowler is back to the major-challenging form of old and, on the whole, it was a fantastic week for him.
Most of the top guys shone, with world No1 Scottie Scheffler and Open champions Smith completing the top four. Champion Matt Fitzpatrick put up a decent defence, Viktor Hovland and Shane Lowry played well and Jordan Smith finished with a fine 66.
And it was a wonderful last day for another Englishman, Tommy Fleetwood who shot a 63 on Sunday to claim a third top-five finish in his last six major appearances.
The man from Southport will be desperate to get to the Open, held this year down the road from his hometown at Royal Liverpool, in a few weeks. Mind you, so will McIlroy, who lifted the Claret Jug the last time the Open was played at Hoylake, in 2014.
But this week all the plaudits got to Clark. He fended off a leaderboard that was about as strong as you will find to make a huge breakthrough. This will open a whole new world for him.
Sam Torrance OBE is a former Ryder Cup-winning captain and one of Europe’s most successful golfers. Follow him @torrancesam