Wyndham Clark stands up to major pressure in third round of US Open

LOS ANGELES — Wyndham Clark will begin the final round of the U.S. Open in an unfamiliar place: In contention to win a major championship.

The 29-year-old native of Colorado and resident of Scottsdale, Ariz., is tied for the lead with Rickie Fowler at 10-under par at Los Angeles Country Club after he shot a 1-under 69 in the third round Saturday.

Entering this week, Clark had played in six major championships and had missed the cut in four of them, including the two U.S. Opens for which he had qualified, in 2021 and 2022.

He made the cut in two majors, finishing tied for 75th in the 2021 PGA Championship and tied for 76th in the 2022 British Open.

On Saturday, though, Clark hardly looked like a player without a lot of positive major-championship experience.

That was true even after he carded a bogey on the 17th hole with an approach shot so poor that he needed to take a penalty drop and dropped two shots behind Fowler heading into the final hole of the round.

Clark delivered a clutch bounce-back birdie on 18 while Fowler, who had been leading the tournament since the opening round on Thursday, three-putted the final hole to relinquish the sole lead.

On Sunday, Clark, just five weeks removed from his first career PGA Tour victory in the Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow, and Fowler again will be the final pairing.

“I’m not a huge scoreboard watcher, but walking up there [on 18] I kind of knew where we were at and I really wanted to be in that final group,’’ Clark said. “Every shot matters out here. Making bogey [on 17] didn’t cost us the tournament, and it actually was one of the biggest points of today.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of emotion. It’s a U.S. Open and I wanted to be in that final group.’’

Clark and Fowler hold a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy, who’s trying to win his first major championship since 2014, and a three-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 ranked player in the world.

It figures to be quite a final round.

“I felt like I handled all of it really well,’’ Clark said of his third-round performance. “At the end, I felt like I handled all the adversity, and I feel like my best round is still out there.’’

As Clark has positioned himself for a Sunday run at the most important title of his career, he has been doing it not for himself, but for his late mother, Lise, who died in 2013 as a result of breast cancer.

Because she was the person who introduced him to golf and was his most ardent supporter, her death rocked him so much he was on the brink of quitting the game.

Without her, Clark suffered from bouts of depression and anger, which tempted him to walk away.

Ten years later, though, Clark is stronger than ever — mentally and in his golf game. And he owes it all to his mother.

After he shot 67 on Friday, Clark referred to a moving moment he experienced in the middle of the opening round, in which he shot a 6-under 64

“I was walking down [a fairway] and I kind of was just smiling as I was playing well, and I go, ‘Man, I wish you could be here, mom, because it’s a dream come true to be doing this at the highest level in front of friends and family that are out here,’ ’’ Clark said. “Yeah, I wish she could be here. But I know she’s proud of me, and she’s made a huge impact on my life. I am who I am today because of her.

“She was kind of my rock and my always-there supporter. I’m getting a little choked up [talking about her]. She’s everything, and I miss her, and everything I do out here is a lot for her.’’