Wyndham Clark threw his hands up in the air as he walked toward TPC Craig Ranch’s clubhouse after making yet another birdie to close out his 72nd hole.
“Finally,” he said, TV microphones catching the exclamation.
Clark’s two-year winless drought is over. The 2023 U.S. Open champion stormed back into the PGA Tour winner’s circle Sunday with a final-round 60 to win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson by three shots. It is his fourth career victory on tour.
Those two years might not have been fruitful for Clark on the golf course, but he did make headlines for a series of outbursts at tournaments. He smashed in a locker at the historic Oakmont Country Club after the 2025 U.S. Open, and he broke a T-Mobile sponsor sign after throwing his driver in frustration at the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Clark apologized for those incidents, but addressed the journey to come back from them for the first time in his post-round interview with CBS’ Amanda Balionis on Sunday.
“I first have to thank a lot of people because, you know, what happened last year at Oakmont wasn’t the greatest thing. And my sponsors, Power Design, SoFi, T-Mobile, Lexus, all of them stayed with me, which means a lot. So I’m very thankful for that,” he said. “The greatest thing about having a downfall like that is to come back, and today feels really special after having a really tough year and grinding it out.”
Wyndham Clark fires an unbelievable back-nine 28 to win the @CJByronNelson! pic.twitter.com/whivP1T5I1
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 24, 2026
Clark’s first top-10 of the 2026 PGA Tour season is a first-place finish. Clark can thank the Ping putter that he put in play ahead of the Masters. He added length to that same model, the Ping Scottsdale Tex Ally Blue Onset mallet putter, and then putts started going in. Going into this week, Clark ranked No. 132 on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting. After four rounds at TPC Craig Ranch, he finished first in that category.
Clark started the day at 19 under par, tied with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, two shots behind leader Si Woo Kim. But with Scheffler and Kim landing the final pairing of the afternoon, all eyes were on a potential battle brewing between the two Dallas residents and members of Royal Oaks Country Club.
But Clark would not be forgotten playing ahead in the penultimate pairing. He started making noise early in his round, opening with four birdies in his first six holes. The momentum continued as he made the turn. Clark went birdie-eagle on the 11th and 12th holes and made back-to-back birdies on No. 14 and No. 15, the latter resulting from sinking a 44-foot putt.
Kim didn’t make glaring errors but simply could not catch Clark’s fire, despite going out in 33 and coming in with a bogey-free 32 to shoot 65 on Sunday. Scheffler had the same issue: He gave himself plenty of chances, but couldn’t get enough putts to drop to match Clark’s 60. Scheffler did not make a score of five or worse on a hole all week until his par on the 12th hole Sunday. He finished third with a final round 65.
Clark closed out his round at the newly renovated TPC Craig Ranch with another set of back-to-back birdies, with his final approach shot of the day landing 2 feet, 7 inches from the cup. He shot a back-nine 28 and finished the tournament at 30 under par for the week.
Further down the leaderboard, Blades Brown — the 19-year-old phenom from Nashville — shot a final-round 67 to finish in a tie for 14th. That result means Brown will receive special temporary membership on the PGA Tour, so he can accept unlimited sponsor exemptions to continue competing with the best in the world.
