Denver’s own Wyndham Clark just won his second U.S. Open
Jun 22, 2026, 3:45 PM
For the second time in three years, the U.S. Open champion is one of ours.
Denver native Wyndham Clark held on through a white-knuckle final round Sunday (June 22) at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, New York, going wire-to-wire to beat Sam Burns by one stroke and claim his second U.S. Open title. Clark entered the final round with a six-shot lead, watched it shrink to one amid hostile New York crowds — Golf Digest reported fans heckling him with lines like “the bogeyman’s coming!” and “nobody likes you” — then sealed it with a clutch two-putt from 52 feet on the 72nd hole for a final score of 4-under 276. He took home $4.5 million from the $22.5 million purse.
Clark’s Colorado roots are as deep as they come. He was born in Denver on Dec. 9, 1993, and grew up playing at Cherry Hills Country Club — the same course that hosted the 1960 U.S. Open won by Arnold Palmer. He attended Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, where he won two Class 4A individual state championships, never shot over par in a high school match and was a classmate of future NFL star Christian McCaffrey. At 15, he won the CGA Junior Stroke Play by 11 shots at Eaton Country Club. At 16, he became the youngest player to win the Colorado Golf Association Stroke Play Championship since Bob Byman in 1971. His high school coach, Don Preeo, told the PGA Tour that when Clark played junior and high school tournaments in Colorado, “it was over” — everyone else was playing for second.
Clark was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2024, joining an elite list of Coloradans who’ve won the U.S. Open: Hale Irwin (1974, ’79, ’90), who played at the University of Colorado, and Steve Jones (1996), also a CU alum. Clark attended Oklahoma State before transferring to the University of Oregon after the death of his mother in 2013, an event that briefly caused him to walk away from the sport entirely. He returned, earned Pac-12 Golfer of the Year honors and turned pro. There is also an AJGA junior golf event in Colorado that bears his name.
Clark now has five PGA Tour victories and two major championships — both of them U.S. Opens. When asked about the atmosphere Sunday, he summed it up: “Man, they definitely didn’t want me to win.” Denver did.
