U.S. Open: Wyndham Clark cashes in after Shinnecock’s bark proves worse than its bite
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Shinnecock’s gonna be tough, they said. Winds are going to blow everybody off the course, they said. It’s going to be fraternity-house-on-a-Saturday-morning carnage, they said.
Yes, well. Matters didn’t quite turn out like they said, and Wyndham Clark took advantage, finishing 16 holes at -6 before play was suspended due to darkness. The 2023 U.S. Open champion now leads the 2026 version by four strokes with two holes left to play on Friday morning.
Clark, along with fellow leaderboard figures Dustin Johnson (-2, three holes to play), Jon Rahm (-2, five holes to play), Matt Fitzpatrick (-2, two holes to play) and many others, took advantage of perhaps the luckiest break in recent major history. The USGA, which runs the Open, decided to blunt the expected effect of high winds by softening up and slowing down the greens. But a fog bank delayed the tournament by two hours, the most gusty winds didn’t materialize, and by late afternoon only a gentle breeze ran through the course. That gave the lucky dozens in the afternoon wave the opportunity to fire away on a toothless, clawless course.
And man, did they take advantage. Clark led the charge, with his most notable shot of the day coming on the par-5 5th:
It’s been one heck of a run lately for Clark, who struggled for years following his 2023 win at LA Country Club. But he’s found his form, and since the PGA Championship has a win at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, a solo third-place finish at the Memorial, and a T11 at the RBC Canadian Open.
Clark was grouped with fellow former U.S. Open winners Johnson and Gary Woodland, and remarkably enough, all three played some fantastic golf. Johnson’s card included a run of four birdies in a row, though a late double-bogey dropped him four strokes off Clark’s lead. Woodland rode a similar run of late birdies to a similar, but still-incomplete -2 round.
The horn sounded at Shinnecock Hills at 8:25, and the late-day sunlight cast long shadows over the greens. The players, understandably, wanted to play in these benign conditions as long as possible, but had to succumb to the sunset. Players were allowed to finish out the hole they had begun. Some chose to (Clark), some did not (Johnson, Woodland, Rahm)
The late-day birdie-fest surely frustrated the players in the morning wave, who fought through gusting winds throughout their round. Friday’s rounds will only be delayed by 15 minutes, thanks to the more rapid play by the afternoon wave. The USGA will likely do everything short of laying down spike strips on the greens to toughen them up for Friday and the weekend, meaning Clark did a good job of staking himself a huge lead when he could.