Wyndham Clark may have had just one goal of redemption entering Shinnecock Hills last Thursday. But he certainly walked off the 18th green with much more. He won his second U.S. Open title after wrecking his reputation last year at Oakmont, and he did it all in a historic manner. Clark joined only eight other players (nine if you count Tiger Woods twice) in championship history to lead a U.S. Open from the first round to the last without ever relinquishing his grip.

None of that was missed by Jack Nicklaus, who was watching the tournament unfold. As impressed as golf’s most decorated legend was with Clark’s relentlessness, the final moments Clark shared with his father touched Nicklaus more. He posted a congratulatory message on Instagram for Clark, and it read less like a quick note and more like an assessment from golf’s most decorated major winner.

“Wow, @wyndhamclark! What a @usopengolf win! You did what I always thought was one of the toughest tasks in golf, especially major championship play, and that is to go wire to wire. On Sunday, you might have given up a little ground, but you recovered beautifully… By the way, one of my very favorite aspects underlining every U.S. Open is the opportunity to win on Father’s Day. To see your dad there to surprise you truly touched my heart! I’m sure it meant the world to you! 😊 🏆”

83% of our readers couldn't break par yesterday

Changing winds, tricky bunkers, and quirky breaks test every shot. Beat par, compare scores, and return tomorrow for a new challenge.

TEE OFF HERE↗

Wyndham Clark didn’t know his father, Randall, would be present at Shinnecock. But Randall had caught a red-eye from Denver to New York to see his son play and was following him with the crowd that was more often than not heckling the 32-year-old. After dropping the final putt, Wyndham hugged his caddie, then his girlfriend, and turned to walk toward the clubhouse when he spotted his father smiling. Clark walked toward his father to give him a long bear hug as the two exchanged pleasantries on Father’s Day. The heartwarming moment was captured live on broadcast, and the hot mic picked up their conversation.

The cameras circled around them as Randall congratulated his son. “I’m so proud of you. That is the toughest round you will ever play in your life, son,” Randall was heard telling his son. “Thanks, pop. I’m glad you could be here,” Clark replied, smiling ear to ear. Speaking to the media after the victory, Wyndham Clark explained how elated he was to see his father.

“He’s never been there to see me win,” Wyndham Clark told the media from Shinnecock. “Not only that, to finally have him there for a win is amazing, but especially on Father’s Day. I know in ’23 it was obviously a great Father’s Day present for him, but I know he wanted to be here [at Shinnecock] in person.”

That hug and those tears were not simply for seeing his father attend his tournament in person, though. They also represented the weight being lifted off the golfer on an unforgiving course like this. And Jack Nicklaus commented on that, too.

“I have always said that the U.S. Open is a total examination of a golfer’s game, and you aced your exam on the short game and scrambling! All those par-saves you had, and then that great birdie putt on No. 16. Just fantastic! You should be very proud and happy. I know Barbara and I are for you! She also sends her congrats, and we wish you well in the future!”

Clark led after every single round at Shinnecock Hills, a narrow, punishing golf course that gave almost nothing away. He carried a six-stroke cushion into Sunday, then watched it shrink to one as Sam Burns mounted a real charge on the back nine. The par-5 16th hole decided things.

Clark pulled his tee shot into the deep fescue, finding a lie that all but guaranteed a bogey. But the two-time major winner scrambled back to the fairway and rolled in a birdie putt from just over 24 feet.

Clark converted roughly 66 percent of his scrambling chances over the weekend, a figure that ranked third in the field and explains how he absorbed the pressure without folding. Recovery shots, clutch par putts, and the decisive birdie on 16 made up the bulk of his closing argument.

Wire-to-wire wins at the U.S. Open are rare. Clark became the ninth player to do it, joining names like Ben Hogan, Tony Jacklin, Rory McIlroy, and Tiger Woods. Clark is the first to manage it since Martin Kaymer in 2014.

He’s also now a two-time U.S. Open champion. Clark’s win at Shinnecock added still more records to that resume, stacking up against a championship history that stretches back more than a century.

For a man who has won four U.S. Opens himself, Nicklaus knows how rarely the competitive and the personal line up this closely. And while he was happy to see the win, he was more pleased to see the love between father and son.