Wyndham Clark walked to the first tee at Bellerive Country Club with a five-shot cushion. But then sloppy bogeys piled up, and Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay closed the gap, as a coronation threatened to turn into a collapse. Instead, three closing birdies pulled Clark back from the brink, and afterward he offered a verdict on himself that was anything but modest.

“Well, man, I think it shows that I’m one of the best players in the world,” Clark said.

That single line is the story of his week at Bellerive. A player who has spent stretches of his career fighting for validation, even while already a two-time U.S. Open champion, chose the moment right after nearly squandering a five-shot lead to state his case in the plainest terms possible. It was not a hedge or a nod to the field. It was a direct claim to a place among the sport’s elite, delivered by a golfer who says he feels routinely overlooked in favor of more popular rivals.

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The numbers back the sentiment more than the closing round did. Clark shot even-par 70 on Sunday to finish at 17-under 263, three shots clear of Cantlay, for his third PGA Tour win of the season and sixth overall, becoming the first player to win the U.S. Open and BMW Championship in the same season since Dustin Johnson (2016).

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His only birdies of the final round came on the last three holes, a stretch that turned a shaky afternoon into a statement. But getting there required grinding through a round he barely recognized as his own.

“It’s hard to win. You feel like the only thing you can do is blow it, essentially, unless someone shoots something really low,” he added.

He described feeling “out of it” rather than nervous, unable to convert good swings into good shots, until his caddie Dave’s repeated instruction to “swing free” finally clicked.

Clark also framed the win against his own recent history. Three victories this season follow what he called his worst year yet, and he pointed to that swing in form as proof of where he stands now rather than where he was twelve months ago.

“I know everyone maybe gives me a hard time and roots for other people, but I feel like I’ve kind of come into my own. Three wins in one season is my best year yet. Coming off my worst year ever. Yeah, I’m just really pleased where I’m at right now,” Clark added.

The result pushes Clark to third in the FedExCup standings heading into the Tour Championship, with East Lake looming as the next test of the claim he just made about himself.