Wyndham Clark loses huge chunk of record U.S. Open | Sports News

Wyndham Clark claimed the joint-largest prize in main championship golf along with his U.S. Open victory on Sunday, but barely more than half of his windfall will make it into his bank account after a staggering tax invoice.

Clark entered the ultimate spherical boasting a six-shot benefit, however was pressured to beat nerves, a hostile Shinnecock Hills crowd, and a decided problem from Sam Burns to secure his second U.S. Open title. The Colorado native carded a three-over-par 73, nevertheless it proved enough to edge out Burns by a single stroke.

Clark could not have been a crowd favourite, however he proved a deserving champion. Multiple followers have been eliminated by law enforcement for heckling that went too far, and the new world No. 9 made no secret of his frustration over the therapy he endured.

The 32-year-old pocketed a huge $4.5 million in prize money for his victory, matching the most important sum ever awarded at a main championship. However, a substantial portion of his earnings will likely be heading straight to the tax authorities.

The IRS is entitled to roughly $1.62M, based mostly on the 37 p.c federal tax charge utilized to high earners.

Clark will even owe round $400,000 in New York state tax, together with an further $105,000 in Medicare and payroll taxes, leading to a whole tax invoice exceeding $2.1M — amounting to more than 48 p.c of his whole winnings.

Not that the Colorado native will lose a lot sleep over it. He holds the excellence of being a two-time U.S. Open champion, and has surged back into the world’s prime 10 as a tough 2025 season fades additional into the gap.

While some followers have but to forgive him for his outrageous conduct at this match a 12 months in the past — smashing a locker at Oakmont Country Club in a match of rage after lacking the cut — Sunday’s triumph supplied him a measure of redemption.

Clark, who claimed the 2023 U.S. Open title at Los Angeles Country Club, stated: “Man, the first one was amazing, and this one seems even better. I think especially after such a sour taste last year in this championship, to have some redemption and win this again, it’s almost surreal.”

He went on to say: “I sure hope it closes the door on [the Oakmont incident]. I figured in my mind that this would maybe be the last time just because it’s one year removed. I’ll probably always get them, but I hope I don’t become the heel of the PGA. I guess if I am, any press is good press, right?”.

Sunday’s victory, which helped lay some of his self-inflicted demons to relaxation, will ship far better satisfaction than any financial reward ever might.

“After what happened at Oakmont, it was obviously the lowest point,” he stated. “People probably didn’t see what happened after, but you know, it was a really tough two, three days for me. I was in a dark place. Didn’t really go outside much. It was a really negative, dark place.

“At that second, I simply felt a lot of my profession, world rating, fame, every thing simply dwindling. That’s a horrible feeling. I might say in that second, I positively did not assume I’d be right here this 12 months doing this, however with that being stated, I did a lot of work within the offseason on my golf swing, on the issues I needed to do. I began hitting it higher and began seeing the outcomes, then yeah, I began gaining my confidence.

“Coming into this, I really did have the feeling I could win, because I played amazing at Memorial. I played OK golf in Canada and still had a chance to win. I said, ‘If I bring my A-game, I can definitely win this thing.'”.