I wish my mum could have been here, says US Open winner Wyndham Clark

I just felt like my mum was watching over me during

the final round (of the US Open).

She can’t be here, and I miss her. I know she’d be proud of me.

It was a pretty amazing week because my mum lived in Los Angeles for a few years and I’ve had some people come up to me and show pictures of her when they knew her back in her 20s and early 30s when she was living here.

That just happened this week, so it was kind of a special vibe all week being here in LA. My parents got married at Riviera Country Club, and I have some roots in this area. All I really wish is that my mum could be here and I could just hug her and we could celebrate together.

My mum was just so positive and such a motivator in what she did. She’d be crying tears of joy now. She called me “Winner” when I was little, and she would just say, “I love you, Winner.” She had that mantra of play big and I was really a mama’s boy. It’s obviously great to think about her, and being here in L.A. and winning something like this makes me think of her even more.

I feel I’ve worked so hard and I’ve dreamt about this moment for so long. There’s been so many times I’ve visualised being here and winning this championship, the US Open, and I just feel like it was my time. This is now my second win on the PGA Tour, the first one was surreal and this one is also surreal.

It hasn’t quite hit me yet but I can tell you that walking up the 18th hole was pretty emotional, and then finishing up with the short putt to win the tournament. The last five or six weeks have been a whirlwind and I just feel so blessed and humbled to be here right now.

I felt like I’ve shown that (I can compete with the best players) this year... I’ve made a lot of cuts, I’ve had a handful of top 10s and top 20s, and I feel I’ve been on a great trajectory to get to this place.

Obviously, 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 I’m one of the best players in the world... I’m a pretty humble, calm guy and I don’t try to get too high or too low on things. I’m obviously going to celebrate this, but I like to compete.

Heading into the final round, Rickie (Fowler, the third round co-leader) had most of the pressure being a California boy and everyone wanted him to win probably more than anyone else. Obviously, I put my own pressure on myself but I guess it’s nice being the underdog.

I’m also glad my caddie and agent told me last November that they’ve got this lady, a mental coach by the name of Julie Elion, that I should work with. I was a little reluctant to do it initially, and I’m just so glad she was brought into my life. It’s crazy to see how much I’ve improved and how much she’s helped me. I wouldn’t have thought I’d be a Major champion six or seven months ago.

At the range, Julie and I were talking about anything but golf actually. We were talking about travelling. We were talking about the beautiful homes out here. She was just trying to keep it light. It’s huge in a Major championship because you can kind of get really tunnel vision.

It was great walking by and hearing a lot of people chant Rickie’s name because it kind of fuelled the fire underneath me that I could do it. Julie told me, every time you hear someone chant “Rickie”, think of your goals and get cocky and go show them who you are. And I did that. It was like 100 plus times during the final round I reminded myself of the goals. Now maybe they’ll be chanting my name in the future.