Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: A Second Wynd-ham

It's hard to win a U.S. Open. It's even harder when paired in the final group on Sunday with the world's No. 1 player staring you down for four-plus hours. It's harder still when the raucous New York galleries are cheering every bad shot you hit, even screaming for your ball to go in a bunker, while barely acknowledging your good shots.

It was a Ryder Cup-like environment not far from where the Ryder Cup was played last year. Except the player being hounded was not European. He was an American. And he was playing in his national championship.

Wyndham Clark withstood it all -- Scottie Scheffler, the incredible fan backlash, the magnitude of the moment -- by displaying enormous mental fortitude while going wire-to-wire to win his second U.S. Open title at historic Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Long Island.

Beginning the day with a six-stroke lead, Clark needed every bit of it to hold off hard-charging Sam Burns by one stroke, shooting a 3-over 73 to finish at 4-under-par. Clark's lead dwindled to one on multiple occasions, but it never dwindled to none.

Scheffler, for his part, could never put any pressure on Clark, and wound up tied for fourth at even par in his bid to complete the career Grand Slam.

Clark thus became the 24th man to win multiple U.S. Opens, after winning in 2023 at Los Angeles Country Club, and the ninth to go wire-to-wire. NBC pointed out more than once that Clark led since 7:09 p.m. ET on Thursday night (yes, they were that precise). That's a lot of nights to sleep on a lead in a major.

The pressure would've be enormous even if all the fans had been on Clark's side.

The 32-year-old Colorado native was hearing it from the crowd for a series of incidents in the past year: He threw his driver in disgust at the 2025 PGA Championship, hitting a T-Mobile sign -- coincidentally his top sponsor. Then a month later came the big one when he MMA-ed a locker in the famed Oakmont clubhouse during the U.S. Open.

He apologized for those incidents, more than once. But he didn't do himself any favors -- again -- at the Masters a couple of months ago. During the Par 3 contest with so many golfers' kids running around, he tried to be funny: "I will say as a man with no kids, it's great birth control, but it's a lot of fun."

Clark simply could not get out of his own way, and sports fans can be relentless. Especially in New York. (See: Wembanyama, Victor).

"Man, they definitely didn't want me to win," Clark said of the Shinnecock galleries.

In an interview with Mike Tirico on NBC at the trophy ceremony, Clark said that "some of it is self-deserved. I did some unfortunate things last year that I really regret. Been sorry multiple times and still sorry. So hopefully I can win you guys over eventually."

It got so bad during the tournament that multiple fans were kicked out, per NBC's Dan Hicks.

Clark was a top-10 player in 2023 through 2024, winning at Quail Hollow, then LACC, then Pebble Beach. All big events. His game fell off in 2025, and that continued until recently. That bad stretch of play coincided with his outbursts, and the two were surely connected.

"I was in a dark place," Clark said.

After missing the cut at the PGA Championship just last month, Clark had fallen to No. 75 in the world. There was no indication anything would get better anytime soon. But the very next week he won the Byron Nelson. Then he finished third at the Memorial, 11th at the Canadian Open and now this. Voila, up to No. 8 in the world.

Clark said after winning the Nelson that he believed his game had been trending in the right direction all season, even if nobody else did.

"Well, maybe the numbers say that as far as finishes, but I was in contention at the Masters," he said that day at TPC Craig Ranch. "I was in contention at RBC. I was in contention my first event of the year at Amex, I was in the final or second to last group in third place. I played a lot of really good first two rounds and then just faltered on the weekend."

Clark has always been a great driver and a great putter. This season, his iron play has stepped up. He's 11th on Tour in SG: Approach. With that going well, there's really no weakness in his game.

It seems the only thing that can stop Clark now is Clark, and he doesn't believe that will happen anymore.

"Man, I'm not getting angry as much as I used to," he said. "I think I get frustrated. My anger has kind of gone away, which is a huge blessing. I'd say the frustration is kind of obviously there. Anyone gets it in golf.

"Yeah, the anger, I'm not as angry as I used to be."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Sam Burns
Burns was the 54-hole leader last year at Oakmont, shot 78 and fell into a tie for seventh. On Sunday, he began seven strokes back and got within one on multiple occasions but a 16-foot birdie try on 18 sniffed the cup before rolling by. This has been a great season for Burns -- 13th at THE PLAYERS, seventh at the Masters -- but he remains winless since 2023. Seems only a matter of time. Burns is up to No. 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Tom Kim
Kim had fallen off the face of the golf map. He was ranked 141st in the OGWR. He didn't play in the Masters and didn't even qualify for the PGA Championship -- and everybody and their grandmother qualifies there. But Kim went through the Dallas qualifier and now, on his 24th birthday, finished solo third. That will get him a return invite to the 2027 Open at Pebble Beach and next year's Masters too. Whether this translates into a return to prominence for the former No. 11 -- now No. 64 -- golfer in the OWGR, it's too soon to say. But at only 24, there's plenty of time to recover his game.

Scottie Scheffler
It would've been quite a day for Scheffler had he won -- career Grand Slam, on his 30th birthday, on Father's Day. Instead, he never got anything going, could never put any pressure on Clark and tied for fourth. That's his eighth top-10 and 13th top-25 in 13 starts. He still has just the one win, which came back in January at The Amex.

Keith Mitchell
Mitchell had by far his best major, tying for fourth. That'll get him into both the Masters and U.S. Open next year. His previous best was a T20 at the 2023 U.S. Open. Mitchell shot even par all four rounds, the only golfer ever to do that at the Open. Remarkably, he led the field in SG: Putting. It was quite a comeback after Mitchell opened with a front-nine 41 Thursday.

Joaquin Niemann
What a wild ride it was for Niemann, who tied for seventh in his best major finish in 28 starts. He shot the best round of the day, a 66, on Sunday. But Thursday was a wild day for the LIV golfer. He shot an 11 on the par-4 6th, a score that included a two-stroke penalty for throwing a club. He finished the day at 78, then came back with a 65 on Friday to make the cut. If you turn that 11 into a par, Niemann wins the U.S. Open by two strokes. By finishing in the top-10, though, he will be back at the U.S. Open next year.

Tyrrell Hatton
Hatton tied for seventh. He now has top-10s in two majors this year and was T4 at last year's U.S. Open as well. He's been great at the Masters and U.S. Open and, surprisingly, his worst major has been the Open Championship.

Gary Woodland
The year continues to get better and better for Woodland. He won at Houston, he had a top-10 at a Signature Event (RBC Heritage) and now another top-10 at a major (T7).

Sam Stevens
Stevens is proving to be a quality player in majors. He's never missed a cut, and this was his eighth attempt. He tied for 23rd at last year's U.S. Open and this time around tied for seventh. He's not super young -- he's 29 -- but it definitely looks like the former Oklahoma State product is on the rise.

Xander Schauffele
There haven't been many RotoWire major recaps in which Schauffele isn't mentioned. After top-10s at the Masters and PGA Championship, he just missed a third with a tie for 11th. That's now 10 straight top-15s at the U.S. Open.

Tommy Fleetwood
Fleetwood tied for 11th. That may not seem like anything out of the ordinary for him, but it was his best finish in a major since the 2024 Masters. He's been coming on strong in recent weeks, going T5-MC-T4-T11-T11 over his past five starts. Fleetwood is pretty much a lock to return to the TOUR Championship, which he won a year ago.

Aaron Rai
In his first major since winning the PGA Championship, Rai admirably tied for 11th. And this was while ranking 64th in the field in SG: Approach.

John Parry
The veteran Englishman continues to put together a solid first season on the PGA Tour. He tied for 11th at Shinnecock. He's made 13-of-15 cuts and this was his second best result of the season.

Ben James
The recent winner of PGA Tour University not only qualified for the U.S. Open for the third straight year, he tied for 23rd. We should see James a bunch in the closing weeks of the season and the fall, and he's showing he can compete right away. He made the cut at the RBC Canadian Open in his pro debut a week ago.

Jackson Koivun and Ryder Cowan
Koivun, the world's No. 1-ranked amateur, and Cowan, ranked 15th, tied for 23rd to share low amateur. Koivun -- the more celebrated of the two -- closed with a 68. Cowan will be a University of Oklahoma senior in the fall.

Rory McIlroy
After opening with a 69, McIlroy couldn't break par the rest of the week and wound up tied for 32nd.

Dustin Johnson
In his 10th and final exempt year for winning the 2016 Open, Johnson tied for 32nd. For a bit it looked as if he could summon past glory by opening with a 66. But a 77 on Friday quashed those thoughts.

MISSED CUTS

Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler, Shane Lowry, Cameron Smith, Si Woo Kim, Adam Scott, J.J. Spaun. Every year, many top names miss the cut. This is nothing new. But for some of these guys, it was a brutal week. DeChambeau has now missed the cut in all three majors in 2026. Much more was expected from Rahm after he tied for second at the PGA. Koepka simply has not played well in his return to the PGA Tour. Kim plays well in just about every tournament but the big ones. Scott's 100th consecutive major appearance was a short one. Spaun was the defending champion.

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