Tranlate this title US Open 2026: Clark wins, the data tells how in spanish

Wyndham Clark began Sunday at the 2026 US Open with a six-shot lead. He finished with just one. But he finished with the trophy in his hand.

At Shinnecock Hills, it wasn’t a walkover; it was almost a controlled crisis. Clark finished with a 73, three over par, going from -7 to -4 overall, enough to one-shot beat Sam Burns, second at -3 after a sensational final 67. Behind him, Tom Kim finished third at -1, while Scottie Scheffler, J.T. Poston, and Keith Mitchell finished tied for fourth on the course.

The most absurd thing is that, compared to Saturday, the course was much more playable against all odds. The average score for the fourth round was 71.39, or «only» +1.39 over par 70. For a quick comparison: on Saturday, only two players went under par, while on Sunday, 17 rounds were under par. The best rounds of the day were 66s by Ludvig Åberg, Joaquín Niemann, and Peter Uihlein, followed by 67s by Burns, Poston, Tyrrell Hatton, and Benjamin James. Yet, even with a softer Sunday, Clark almost managed to turn a six-shot margin into a legal thriller.

Clark, results

His victory hinged on the difference between playing well and surviving well. From tee to green, he lost 1.5 shots on the field yesterday. At times, he seemed to be hanging on to the tournament by his fingernails, his caddie, and a good dose of stubbornness. The ball would slip, some irons weren’t clean, his drive wasn’t always right. But around the greens, he pulled off a number of recoveries that, in a US Open, are more important than birdies.

The symbol of his week remains his 16th-hole shot on Saturday, that fairway wood from about 275 yards that had set up the eagle and widened the lead. But on Sunday he had another obvious shot: the birdie on the 16th, with a long, nervous, almost unreal putt, which came just as Burns and Kim were trying to put pressure on him. It wasn’t the most elegant shot of the week. It was the shot that kept him from throwing away the US Open.

The best part, however, was seeing how Clark transformed his short game into a permanent lifeline. On the 9th, he played a lob from the heavy rough in front of the green that almost missed the green. On the 10th, he placed a magnificent wedge, the ball passing the hole and then bouncing back to within about five feet. In those moments, he wasn’t playing the cleanest golf of the tournament, but the most useful golf. And in the US Open, it’s often the same thing with a less romantic name.

Burns was the great protagonist of the comeback. He started seven shots behind and finished with a 67, the best round among those that really counted for the title. He got to within three, had a great birdie chance on the 18th, and most importantly, forced Clark to play the final holes, knowing the margin had shrunk. His putt on the 18th to apply final pressure slipped to the right just before the hole. One shot. Literally. From second place to a possible playoff.

It’s been a huge week for Burns: alone in second, a career-best result at the US Open, and his third consecutive top 10 in the tournament after T9 in 2024 and T7 in 2025. From tee to green, he was a machine despite his lack of accuracy on his first shots. He was lethal on the putt, gaining two strokes over the entire field. He’s becoming one of those names you can no longer treat as a surprise in tough majors. The problem is that this time he faced a leader in «not pretty, but never dies» mode.