The final round of the U.S. Open was completed Sunday evening at Los Angeles Country as Wyndham Clark won the U.S. Open trophy for the first time at 1-under par. He won the third major of the year by one shot over World No. 3 Rory McIlroy.
It was a challenging three-hole stretch to end as the 16th, 17th, and 18th, all par fours, were ranked the sixth, third, and fourth hardest holes, respectively, on the day.
Here are four takeaways from the final round of the 123rd U.S. Open.
Wyndham Clark & Rory McIlroy battle it out on the back nine
Throughout the final round on Sunday, the final two players battling it out for the U.S. Open trophy were Wyndham Clark and Rory McIlroy. McIlroy, who was playing one group in front of Clark, entered the day looking to win his first U.S. Open in 12 years and first major tournament in nine.
Despite Clark making bogey on the par-3 15th hole to get down to 11-under, McIlroy made par on the par-4 16 to remain two back.
McIlroy had an opportunity to tie Clark on the 17th with a 31-foot birdie putt but missed it right and recorded par. Clark recorded his second consecutive bogey on the par-4 16th to make the gap even closer between him and McIlroy.
As a result, it would come down to the final hole. Clark had a one-shot lead at -10 after getting up and down for par on 17 with an opportunity to get his second win of the season after being victorious at the Well Fargo Championship, a designated event with the best PGA Tour players on hand.
Clark, who had hit every fairway and green on the 18th hole this week, hit the right side of the fairway on the 72nd hole today. His approach was on the green, setting up a two-putt to win the U.S. Open.
Just under 60 feet separated Wyndham Clark and the U.S. Open trophy. He lagged it up to a couple feet to tap in to win his first major tournament of his career at 10-under par.
With the win, Clark receives the trophy and 550 FedEx Cup points, which vaulted him up six spots to fourth in the standings only being Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, and Max Homa.
Scottie Scheffler and Rickie Fowler finish inside the top 5
Coming into the final round, Rickie Fowler was in the midst of contending for his first major championship while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was lurking three shots behind Fowler.
Playing close to home in Murrieta, Calif., Fowler was unable to pull off a magical finish as he recorded three bogeys in the first seven holes. Despite a birdie on the par-5 eighth, Fowler recorded three more bogeys on the par-3 11th, par-4 12th, and the par-4 16th. He did birdie the par-5 14th to get one back on the back nine heading into the final two holes.
In total, Fowler finished the day at 5-over with Tommy Fleetwood and Min Woo Lee.
On the other hand, Scottie Scheffler was hoping to come back and try to finish higher than his second place last year at the U.S. Open. Whenever Scheffler recorded bogey, he would get that stroke back with a birdie. He bogeyed the par-3 seventh, followed by a birdie on the par-5 eighth. On the back, he bogeyed 11 and 12 and came back with birdies on 13 and 16.
Scheffler wound up shooting even par during the final round to finish solo third at -7 following his par on the 18th hole.
This is Scheffler’s third consecutive top-10 U.S. Open finish after placing seventh in 2021 and second last year. In addition, this is his 13th top-10 finish this season and fifth consecutive top-5 finish.
Related: 5 big takeaways from the PGA & LIV Golf merger, including how the players feel
Tommy Fleetwood makes history, shoots best final round
Although Tommy Fleetwood entered the final round of the U.S. Open at 2-over par and tied for 38th, there was still a lot to play for, from prize money to FedEx Cup points. Fleetwood came into this tournament after losing in a playoff at the RBC Canadian Open. After recording a final round 67 last week, the Englishman came into today’s round looking to finish strong, which he did.
Fleetwood recorded a 5-under 30 on the front nine that was highlighted by a six-foot eagle putt on the drivable par-4 sixth. He went right at the pin and was able to knock in the putt to take two shots off the board and move to -3.
In addition to his circle on the sixth, Fleetwood also recorded birdies on the par-4 second, the par-5 eighth and the par-3 ninth.
Then on the back nine, Fleetwood was able to get his tee shot on the par-3 11th from 295 yards to three feet for a three-foot birdie putt. Three holes later, despite being on the left rough, Fleetwood was able to get on the green in two and made a 20-footer for his second eagle of the day.
Despite a bogey on the par-4 16th, Fleetwood recorded a 7-under 63 as he became the first player to record two final-round 63s, with the other coming at the 2018 U.S. Open when he was the runner-up at Shinnecock Hills.
Related: The Match 2023: The best duos from the NFL and NBA face off on the golf course in June
Gordon Sargent is the U.S. Open low amateur
Being the low amateur at any major is special because of how early in a career it comes. Gordon Sargent, a sophomore from Vanderbilt University, was looking to redeem himself after missing the cut at the Masters a couple months ago this week.
Sargent, who was one of four amateurs to make the cut, which is the most since 2015, was even par through the first 36 holes. However, he was challenged during the third round by a 5-over 75.
During the final round today, he was able to turn things around with no double bogeys on his scorecard and recorded five birdies in a seven-hole stretch from the drivable par-4 sixth to the par-4 12th, including three straight on six, seven and eight. He was third amongst the field in strokes gained: approach, taking off nearly three strokes.
Sargent, who qualified for the U.S. Open in final qualifying, capped off his first U.S. Open tied for 39th at 1-under par.
Final round U.S. Open leaderboard
| Position | Player | Score | Today |
| 1 | Wyndham Clark | -10 | E |
| Rory McIlroy | -9 | E | |
| 3 | Scottie Scheffler | -7 | E |
| 4 | Cameron Smith | -6 | -3 |
| T5 | Tommy Fleetwood | -5 | -7 |
| Min Woo Lee | -5 | -3 | |
| Rickie Fowler | -5 | +5 | |
| T8 | Tom Kim | -4 | -1 |
| Harris English | -4 | +2 | |
| T10 | Austin Eckroat | -3 | -5 |
| Jon Rahm | -3 | -5 | |
| Xander Schauffele | -3 | +2 | |
| Dustin Johnson | -3 | +2 | |
| T14 | Russell Henley | -2 | -2 |
| Collin Morikawa | -2 | -1 | |
| Patrick Cantlay | -2 | -1 | |
| T17 | Brooks Koepka | -1 | -1 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | -1 | E | |
| 19 | Viktor Hovland | E | +2 |
| T20 | Jordan Smith | +1 | -4 |
| Nick Hardy | +1 | -3 | |
| Denny McCarthy | +1 | E | |
| Keith Mitchell | +1 | +1 | |
| Shane Lowry | +1 | +1 | |
| Bryson DeChambeau | +1 | +4 | |
| Ryutaro Nagano | +1 | +5 | |
| T27 | Sahith Theegala | +2 | -1 |
| Sergio Garcia | +2 | E | |
| Justin Suh | +2 | +2 | |
| Tyrrell Hatton | +2 | +2 | |
| Padraig Harrington | +2 | +3 | |
| T32 | Dylan Wu | +3 | +2 |
| Patrick Rodgers | +3 | +2 | |
| Sam Burns | +3 | +3 | |
| Joaquin Niemann | +3 | +3 | |
| Cameron Young | +3 | +3 | |
| Tony Finau | +3 | +4 | |
| Hideki Matsuyama | +3 | +5 | |
| T39 | David Puig | +4 | -3 |
| Gordon Sargent (a) | +4 | -1 | |
| Eric Cole | +4 | +4 | |
| Si Woo Kim | +4 | +4 | |
| T43 | Sam Bennett | +5 | +1 |
| Andrew Putnam | +5 | +3 | |
| Sam Stevens | +5 | +3 | |
| Billy Horschel | +5 | +4 | |
| Ryan Fox | +5 | +4 | |
| Brian Harman | +5 | +5 | |
| T49 | Mackenzie Hughes | +6 | +1 |
| Sebastian Munoz | +6 | +2 | |
| Charley Hoffman | +6 | +3 | |
| Kevin Streelman | +6 | +4 | |
| Gary Woodland | +6 | +5 | |
| T54 | Romain Langasque | +7 | +1 |
| Abraham Ancer | +7 | +1 | |
| T56 | Patrick Reed | +8 | -1 |
| Ryan Gerard | +8 | +3 | |
| 58 | Yuto Katsuragawa | +9 | +4 |
| 59 | Adam Hadwin | +11 | +5 |
| T60 | Jacob Solomon | +12 | +4 |
| Adam Svensson | +12 | +4 | |
| 62 | Ben Carr (a) | +13 | +6 |
| 63 | Ryo Ishikawa | +14 | +4 |
| 64 | Aldrich Potgieter (a) | +15 | +9 |
| 65 | Maxwell Moldovan (a) | +17 | +9 |
| The following players missed the cut at +2 | |||
| Kyle Mueller | CUT | CUT | |
| Taylor Moore | CUT | CUT | |
| Paul Barjon | CUT | CUT | |
| Phil Mickelson | CUT | CUT | |
| Nico Echavarria | CUT | CUT | |
| Davis Thompson | CUT | CUT | |
| Patrick Cover | CUT | CUT | |
| Jordan Spieth | CUT | CUT | |
| Mito Pereira | CUT | CUT | |
| Adrian Meronk | CUT | CUT | |
| Andy Svoboda | CUT | CUT | |
| Alex Noren | CUT | CUT | |
| Vincent Norrman | CUT | CUT | |
| Thriston Lawrence | CUT | CUT | |
| Justin Rose | CUT | CUT | |
| Tom Hoge | CUT | CUT | |
| Sepp Straka | CUT | CUT | |
| Thomas Pieters | CUT | CUT | |
| Simon Forsstrom | CUT | CUT | |
| Adam Schenk | CUT | CUT | |
| Chris Kirk | CUT | CUT | |
| Nick Taylor | CUT | CUT | |
| J.J. Grey | CUT | CUT | |
| Seamus Power | CUT | CUT | |
| Max Homa | CUT | CUT | |
| Corey Conners | CUT | CUT | |
| Lucas Herbert | CUT | CUT | |
| Francesco Molinari | CUT | CUT | |
| Scott Stallings | CUT | CUT | |
| Ross Fisher | CUT | CUT | |
| Emiliano Grillo | CUT | CUT | |
| Stewart Cink | CUT | CUT | |
| Austen Truslow | CUT | CUT | |
| Taylor Pendrith | CUT | CUT | |
| Kurt Kitayama | CUT | CUT | |
| J.T. Poston | CUT | CUT | |
| Adam Scott | CUT | CUT | |
| Deon Germishuys | CUT | CUT | |
| Wilco Nienaber | CUT | CUT | |
| Mac Meissner | CUT | CUT | |
| Barclay Brown (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Roger Sloan | CUT | CUT | |
| Jordan Gumberg | CUT | CUT | |
| Matt Kuchar | CUT | CUT | |
| Martin Kaymer | CUT | CUT | |
| Michael Thorbjornsen (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Keegan Bradley | CUT | CUT | |
| Preston Summerhays (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Bastien Amat (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Luke List | CUT | CUT | |
| Brent Grant | CUT | CUT | |
| Sungjae Im | CUT | CUT | |
| Taylor Montgomery | CUT | CUT | |
| Ryan Armour | CUT | CUT | |
| David Nyfjall | CUT | CUT | |
| Jens Dantorp | CUT | CUT | |
| Michael Kim | CUT | CUT | |
| Corey Pereira | CUT | CUT | |
| Alejandro del Rey | CUT | CUT | |
| Jesse Schutte | CUT | CUT | |
| Gunn Charoenkul | CUT | CUT | |
| Olin Browne Jr. | CUT | CUT | |
| Nick Dunlap (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Pablo Larrazabal | CUT | CUT | |
| K.H. Lee | CUT | CUT | |
| Jason Day | CUT | CUT | |
| Wenyi Ding (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Christian Cavaliere (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Paul Haley II | CUT | CUT | |
| Matthieu Pavon | CUT | CUT | |
| Michael Brennan (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Omar Morales (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Karl Vilips | CUT | CUT | |
| Carlos Ortiz | CUT | CUT | |
| Aaron Wise | CUT | CUT | |
| Berry Henson | CUT | CUT | |
| Carson Young | CUT | CUT | |
| Frankie Capan III | CUT | CUT | |
| Victor Perez | CUT | CUT | |
| Alex Schaake | CUT | CUT | |
| Cam Davis | CUT | CUT | |
| Hayden Buckley | CUT | CUT | |
| Matthew McClean (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Joel Dahmen | CUT | CUT | |
| Alexander Yang (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| Justin Thomas | CUT | CUT | |
| Isaac Simmons (a) | CUT | CUT | |
| David Horsey | CUT | CUT | |
| Brendan Vlades | CUT | CUT | |
| Hank Lebioda | CUT | CUT |