Clark clinging on to lead as Burns turns up heat at US Open
· Yahoo Sports
Wyndham Clark found himself in a battle for his second US Open title after his six-shot lead was cut to two after 10 holes of Sunday's final round.
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The 2023 champion had to wait until making the turn for his first birdie, which was vital as fellow US hope Sam Burns had reduced his advantage to one after a three-under outward nine of 32.
Clark – trying to avoid setting a new unwanted record of squandering the largest third-round US Open lead, which is currently held by Mike Brady (five) in 1919 – covered the same stretch in 38 to head into the back nine facing far more jeopardy than he would have hoped in his bid for a wire-to-wire victory.
He was not helped by some adverse crowd reactions, which resulted in some fans being ejected from the course.
It was not on the level of the scenes which occurred at nearby Bethpage for September’s Ryder Cup but was enough for local police to intervene with a couple of individuals.
Burns, three groups ahead, was the one to turn up the pressure as Clark’s playing partner Scottie Scheffler struggled to gain momentum.
He turned in a one-over 36, which left him at level par, but watched his playing partner come back to him after he came up short at the par-three second and then chipped over the back.
Worse was to follow at the par-five fifth. With Clark over the back of the green in two, his chip rolled back down the slope and he raced his next attempt 24 feet past for bogey.
By then Burns, with three birdies in his first five holes, had birdied the eighth to get to within two and that was one when Clark bogeyed the short seventh.
To add to his problems the final group were given a pace of play warning but the leader finally found something by hitting his approach at the 10th to four feet to open up a two-shot gap again.
Behind him Tyrrell Hatton posted his best round of the week – a 67 – to move himself to one over par and set for back-to-back top-10 finishes, which would secure his return next year.
“It was a pretty solid round of golf. The conditions today and with the wind, it was a bit more favourable, certainly more enjoyable experience than the first three days,” he said.
“I was happy to go out and play a pretty decent round of golf. Obviously the last hole (bogey) stings a bit – now all I can hope for is that it stays top-10 and I’m guaranteed a spot in the US Open next year.”
That will not be a concern for Masters champion Rory McIlroy but he was left to rue allowing “the wheels to come off” twice on the back nine this week.
A final-round 73, in which he under-performed on the front nine with four bogeys, saw the Northern Irishman finish six over par and not even close to the top 10.
But the world number two knew he threw away his chances on Friday and Saturday when he shot 38 and 40 on the back nine.
“Looking back in the entire week I rue the back nine yesterday. I was two under par for the tournament after nine and then the wheels came off,” he said.
“I played a really bad back nine and I shot myself out of the tournament then. Friday too, I was three over for the back nine. I’ll rue both of those nines Friday and Saturday.”