“It’s Wyndham Clark who takes down all the stars in Los Angeles to win the United States Open!” – Dan Hicks
“That’s the shot of his life. That’s the shot of the championship. He’ll never see a prettier shot than that, ever again in a major championship and in a bigger moment.” – Brandel Chamblee on Clark’s fairway shot on the 14th hole
“He changed the way he thinks about golf, he changed the way he approaches the game. He came here with a purpose.” – Paul Azinger on Wyndham Clark
“It’s been 3,295 days since that last major. He’s going to have to wait a little longer.” – Dan Hicks on Rory McIlroy
“This is almost identical to what he did at St. Andrews.” – Paul Azinger on McIlroy
NBC Sports’ Third Round Viewership on NBC/Peacock Up 23% vs. 2021 at Torrey Pines
STAMFORD, Conn. – June 18, 2023 – NBC Sports presented final round coverage of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship from The Los Angeles Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif., on NBC and Peacock, capped by Live From the U.S. Open on GOLF Channel.
Wyndham Clark shot a final round even-par 70 to win his first major championship, defeating Rory McIlroy by one shot.
U.S. Open – Final Round Leaderboard
| Player | Total |
| Wyndham Clark | -10 |
| Rory McIlroy | -9 |
| Scottie Scheffler | -7 |
| Cameron Smith | -6 |
ON WYNDHAM CLARK (-10, Champion)
Dan Hicks: “It’s Wyndham Clark who takes down all the stars in Los Angeles to win the United States Open!”
Azinger as Clark walked to the 18th tee: “What a feeling. He’s made a comeback. He changed the way he thinks about golf, he changed the way he approaches the game. He came here with a purpose…a mental change, that’s the big thing…it’s the between the ears stuff that’s made the difference.”
Notah Begay III on birdie putt on 18th hole: “It’s not so much the length of the putt, it’s about what’s riding on it…it’s just a matter of the pressure – can you get enough on it to get it back to the hole?”
Hicks: “There’s another Colorado native who was pretty good at these U.S. Opens named Hale Irwin. Irwin’s family moved from Kansas to Boulder and Hale went to high school there. Clark is showing a lot of that Hale Irwin-U.S. Open-type-of-grit today with these saves and these pressure-packed shots.”
Begay III on Clark reacting to McIlroy’s shot on 17th hole: “When we heard that huge roar from down at the 17th green, both caddie John Ellis and he went down and took a peek just to kind of see what was happening. They’re obviously aware that Rory has done something.”
Chamblee on Clark’s fairway shot on the 14th hole on Live From: “That’s the shot of his life. That’s the shot of the championship. He’ll never see a prettier shot than that, ever again in a major championship and in a bigger moment.”
Begay III on the second shot on 14th hole: “I can’t tell you how good this shot was. He had about a 10-yard window and he laid it in there coming it like it was a soft short iron.”
Azinger on Clark’s drive on 12th hole: “He’s in full-on attack mode…he said his approach was to play cocky and that was pretty cocky right there.”
ON RORY MCILROY (-9, 2nd)
Dan Hicks: “It’s been 3,295 days since that last major. He’s going to have to wait a little longer.”
Azinger: “Rory’s had his chances today. He’s hit it well enough. His touch was good. He made all of the short putts. Nothing of any length…he just didn’t make putts. He was No. 1 in the field in greens in regulation. That usually means you win.”
John Wood: “It’s one of those days where the hole seems to get smaller and smaller and smaller as you go along. Every putt seems to crease edges all day long.”
Azinger on approach on 17th hole from 2nd fairway: “No other player in golf can do what he just did. Nobody can hoist it that high, that far, with that much spin. Not in today’s game. That was like Tiger used to do.”
Azinger on the 13th hole: “This is almost identical to what he did in St. Andrews (at the Open Championship) last year…he hit it unbelievable and he didn’t win the tournament…the way he’s hitting it, I would take all the pars I could make from here to the house.”
Wood on the par-5 14th hole: “That lie he had was in some very dried out rough. I was pretty surprised he didn’t give it a shot to be honest with you, just knock something over this green into the grandstands and chip back up the hill. The lie was definitely good enough for him to reach.”
Azinger following the missed par putt on 14th hole: “Only the second green that he’s missed, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time.”
Chamblee on McIlroy’s shot on the 14th hole on Live From: “This is absolutely criminal right here with the wedge. This buries in the lip in spite of the great break that he got, (he) was able to drop it right beside the hole but he still wasn’t able to save par.”
McGinley on what went wrong for McIlroy on Live From: “He had a gameplan, and it was quite a conservative gameplan, and that’s okay, but you’ve got to take advantage of the scoring holes and he didn’t do that. Yes, he got away to a good start. He flushed it down that first hole again and made mincemeat out of that hole but, you know, 6th hole, four tee-shot on six, left himself no chance to get really up and down. 8th hole, three putts from the front to the green, missing a shot there, and criminally taking a six on (hole) 14. Other than that, the gameplan was good. He showed a lot of resilience in a lot of ways. It’s not like’s miles and miles away here, but just two or three mistakes and not able to happen on the greens for him over the weekend. He started out putting well on days one and two but certainly slowed down hugely over the weekend with the putter. It wasn’t like he was tentative. It looked like everything was running at the hole but they just wouldn’t fall…the big mistake was the scoring holes.”
--NBC SPORTS--
