By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

 LOS ANGELES — In the city of stars, Wyndham Clark had his own script in mind in the U.S. Open.

In front of him was Rory McIlroy, one of golf’s biggest talents who looked ready to end his perplexing nine-year drought in the majors. Next to him in the final group Sunday was Rickie Fowler, a Southern California native who returned from a three-year slump and was poised to finally win his first major.

Clark carried a message from his late mother — “Play big,” she always told him — and the belief he could compete with anyone on any stage.

No stage was bigger than a U.S. Open on the edge of Beverly Hills. That’s where Clark delivered clutch saves, a signature shot that gave him control and the steady nerves to hold off McIlroy and become a major champion.

“I feel like I belong on this stage,” Clark said after closing with an even-par 70 for a one-shot victory over McIlroy. “Even two, three years ago when people didn’t know who I was, I felt like I could still play and compete against the best players in the world.”

He won in only his seventh start in a major — his previous best was a tie for 75th — and it came six weeks after he captured his first PGA Tour title at Quail Hollow.

“It’s gone faster than I thought as far as just starting to do some stuff mentally that I’ve never done before, but I feel like I’m one of the best players in the world,” Clark said “Obviously this just shows what I believe can happen.”

The final act was two putts from 60 feet on the 18th hole at Los Angeles Country Club, and the 29-year-old Clark pumped his fist when it settled a foot away. He tapped that in for a par, maybe the easiest shot he had all day.

Left in his wake was a collection of big names.

Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, couldn’t catch him. Neither could British Open champion Cameron Smith. Fowler was playing in the final group of a major for the third time. Clark was playing in the final round of a major for the third time, and the previous two occasions he was done in time for lunch.

Clark let loose his emotions at the end, looking to the blue sky in tears and covering his face with his cap as he sobbed on the green.

He thought about quitting golf a decade ago when he struggled with the loss of his mother, Lise, to breast cancer. She was who kept him steady in good times and bad. He was thinking about her all week for all kinds of reasons.

“My mom lived in LA for a few years and I’ve had some people come up to me and show pictures of my mom when they knew her back in her 20s and early 30s when she was living here,” said Clark, who was born in Denver. “So it was kind of a special vibe all week being here in LA. My parents got married at Riviera Country Club. I have some roots a little bit in this area.

“All I really wish is that my mom could be here and I could just hug her and we could celebrate together. But I know she’s proud of me.”

For McIlroy, it was more disappointment in his quest to end nine years without a major.

He opened with a birdie and didn’t make another the rest of the way. McIlroy played a final round that typically wins a U.S. Open — 16 pars, one bogey. Just not this one. Even as Clark showed signs of cracking during the rugged closing stretch, McIlroy missed fairways and didn’t give himself any reasonable birdie chances.

It was similar to St. Andrews last summer at the British Open, when he hit every green and couldn’t buy a putt. Instead, he’ll face more questions about when he’ll win another major.

“When I do finally win this next major, it’s going to be really, really sweet,” McIlroy said. “I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship.”

Scheffler missed too many putts early on the back nine and needed help from Clark and McIlroy that never arrived. He also closed with a 70 to finish third, a month after a runner-up finish in the PGA Championship.

Fowler set a U.S. Open record with 23 birdies, but just like so many other majors when he had a chance, he was in reverse before he ever got going — three bogeys in the opening seven holes. He never made up the ground and shot 75.

This day belonged to Clark, who showed remarkable poise and self-belief, not to mention an extraordinary short game and a fairway metal he won’t soon forget.

Already with a two-shot lead, he was a yard away from an easy birdie on the par-5 eighth when his approach hit a steep bank of the barranca to the left. Barely able to see his golf ball, Clark took a whack and the ball advanced a few inches deeper into thick grass.

He hammered it again, this time over the green, 70 feet away down a firm and scary putting surface. He chipped that to 3 feet to escape with bogey.

“That up-and-down was the key to the tournament,” he said.

More such shots followed. On the par-3 ninth, he was on the bank of a bunker and chipped away from the flag, using the slope expertly to get it to within 7 feet for another big save. And then he clipped a pitch from a tight lie left of the 11th green to 4 feet for par.

The signature shot was his fairway metal from 282 yards on the par-5 14th to 20 feet that set up a two-putt birdie, giving Clark a three-shot lead with four to play.

But he made the only bogey of the day on the par-3 15th, then found a bunker left of the 16th fairway and whacked his hand on his putter when he missed a 7-foot par putt. His lead down to one shot, he got up-and-down from left of the 17th green to keep the lead.

The USGA allowed thousands of fans to circle the fairway short of the 18th green with so few grandstands, creating a big theater for Clark’s finish.

Fowler, still chasing his first major, returned to the 18th green to hug Clark.

“I went back in there and just said, ‘Your mom was with you. She’d be very proud,’” Fowler said.

Clark finished at 10-under 270 and along with $3.6 million — his second such cash prize in the last six weeks — he moves to No. 2 in the Ryder Cup standings.

Smith shot 67 to finish fourth. Tommy Fleetwood became the first player with two rounds of 63 in the U.S. Open and finished in a tie for fifth with Fowler and Min Woo Lee (67). Fleetwood also shot 63 at Shinnecock Hills in the final round of 2018.

That was a fitting finish in one respect — a U.S. Open that had the lowest 18-hole scores on Thursday (Fowler and Xander Schauffele at 62) ended with the lowest scoring average for 72 holes (71.76) in U.S. Open history.

  

U.S. Open Scores

At North Course

Los Angeles

Purse: $20 million

Yardage: 7,423; Par: 70

Final Round

Wyndham Clark, United States (600), $3,600,000 64-67-69-70—270

Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland (330), $2,160,000 65-67-69-70—271

Scottie Scheffler, United States (210), $1,413,430 67-68-68-70—273

Cameron Smith, Australia (0), $990,867 69-67-71-67—274

Tommy Fleetwood, England (110), $738,934 73-69-70-63—275

Rickie Fowler, United States (110), $738,934 62-68-70-75—275

Min Woo Lee, Australia (0), $738,934 69-65-74-67—275

Harris English, United States (91), $562,809 67-66-71-72—276

Tom Kim, South Korea (91), $562,809 73-68-66-69—276

Austin Eckroat, United States (75), $435,018 71-68-73-65—277

Jon Rahm, Spain (75), $435,018 69-73-70-65—277

Xander Schauffele, United States (75), $435,018 62-70-73-72—277

Dustin Johnson, United States (0), $435,018 64-70-71-72—277

Patrick Cantlay, United States (61), $332,343 71-71-67-69—278

Russell Henley, United States (61), $332,343 71-71-68-68—278

Collin Morikawa, United States (61), $332,343 71-69-69-69—278

Matt Fitzpatrick, England (56), $284,167 71-70-68-70—279

Brooks Koepka, United States (0), $284,167 71-69-70-69—279

Viktor Hovland, Norway (53), $258,662 69-70-69-72—280

Nick Hardy, United States (44), $200,152 70-69-75-67—281

Shane Lowry, Ireland (44), $200,152 72-70-68-71—281

Denny McCarthy, United States (44), $200,152 71-67-73-70—281

Keith Mitchell, United States (44), $200,152 68-71-71-71—281

Bryson DeChambeau, United States (0), $200,152 67-72-68-74—281

Ryutaro Nagano, Japan (0), $200,152 71-67-68-75—281

Jordan L. Smith, England (0), $200,152 70-71-74-66—281

Padraig Harrington, Ireland (33), $143,295 73-69-67-73—282

Tyrrell Hatton, England (33), $143,295 74-67-69-72—282

Justin Suh, United States (33), $143,295 69-69-72-72—282

Sahith Theegala, United States (33), $143,295 74-66-73-69—282

Sergio Garcia, Spain (0), $143,295 70-71-71-70—282

Sam Burns, United States (24), $108,001 69-70-71-73—283

Tony Finau, United States (24), $108,001 68-69-72-74—283

Hideki Matsuyama, Japan (24), $108,001 72-69-67-75—283

Patrick Rodgers, United States (24), $108,001 71-69-71-72—283

Dylan Wu, United States (24), $108,001 68-70-73-72—283

Cameron Young, United States (24), $108,001 72-70-68-73—283

Joaquin Niemann, Chile (0), $108,001 68-72-70-73—283

Eric Cole, United States 69-70-71-74—284

Si Woo Kim, South Korea 67-72-71-74—284

David Puig, Spain 69-73-75-67—284

Gordon Sargent, United States 69-71-75-69—284

Sam Bennett, United States 67-68-79-71—285

Ryan Fox, New Zealand 68-74-69-74—285

Brian Harman, United States 65-73-72-75—285

Billy Horschel, United States 73-67-71-74—285

Andrew Putnam, United States 68-71-73-73—285

Sam Stevens, United States 75-67-70-73—285

Charley Hoffman, United States 71-67-75-73—286

Mackenzie Hughes, Canada 67-73-75-71—286

Sebastian Munoz, Colombia 68-74-72-72—286

Kevin Streelman, United States 72-69-71-74—286

Gary Woodland, United States 70-68-73-75—286

Abraham Ancer, Mexico 70-72-74-71—287

Romain Langasque, France 71-68-77-71—287

Ryan Gerard, United States 69-70-76-73—288

Patrick Reed, United States 72-69-78-69—288

Yuto Katsuragawa, Japan 69-71-75-74—289

Adam Hadwin, Canada 70-72-74-75—291

Jacob Solomon, United States 68-73-77-74—292

Adam Svensson, Canada 71-70-77-74—292

Ben Carr, United States 70-72-75-76—293

Ryo Ishikawa, Japan 69-73-78-74—294

Aldrich Potgieter, South Africa 70-72-74-79—295