The US Open leader wants to stay away from this tricky part of history in the final round
Everyone will be watching Wyndham Clark at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Sunday.
The 32-year-old has a big lead at the US Open and will start his final round with great chances to win. Clark is leading the scoreboard at seven under, six shots ahead of the others with just 18 holes to go on Long Island.
Only 10 players in history have had bigger leads at this stage in major championships, and two of them were Tiger Woods. Clark’s strong short game makes it look very likely that he will win the 2023 US Open for the second time.
Samuel Stevens, Scottie Scheffler, Sahith Theegala, and Tom Kim are all tied for second place at one under, 18 holes left to play.
“Shinnecock will be much tougher tomorrow, but Clark’s lead is so big it’s almost impossible for someone to catch him unless they shoot seven under and he shoots par,” said BBC Sport.
“Since 1934, 21 players have had a six-shot or bigger lead going into the final round of a major. Only one didn’t win—Greg Norman.”
Norman’s collapse at the 1996 Masters in Augusta is famous in golf history. He had a six-shot lead after 54 holes but ended up losing to English golfer Nick Faldo, who was six shots behind.
Faldo caught up, passed him, and won by five shots. Norman never won the Masters and finished second three times, including the US Open and PGA Championship, though he did win the Open Championship twice.
Sky Sports looked back on that day and said, “An early bad hole was followed by another bogey on the fourth for Norman, cutting his lead to four. Then things got worse with three dropped shots around the turn, bringing him level with Faldo at nine under. A double-bogey on the 12th gave Faldo a two-shot lead.
“Norman matched Faldo’s birdies on 13 and 15 to stay close, but another double-bogey on 16 ended his chances. Faldo finished strong with a birdie on the last to win by five.”