Show notes
Wyndham Clark Is Running Away With the US Open at Shinnecock — Day Two Recap
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Through two rounds at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, one man is separating himself from the field in a way nobody saw coming. Wyndham Clark is seven under par — the best 36-hole score ever recorded at a US Open at Shinnecock Hills. The previous best was six under, shared by Shingo Mariyama and Phil Mickelson in 2004. Neither of them won that week. Retief Goosen did.
That history matters. Because Shinnecock has a way of finding you over the weekend.
Wyndham Clark Is on Another Level
The numbers from Wyndham Clark's last four tournaments before this week are almost impossible to believe. A scoring average of 66.6. Fifty-nine under par. Birdie or better on 31 percent of holes played. And the best strokes gained putting average on the PGA Tour since the Masters — by a wide margin. He stormed back at the CJ Byron Nelson with an 11-under 60 in the final round to win, beating Scotty Scheffler in the process, and then added a third place and an 11th place in his next two starts before arriving at Shinnecock on the hottest putting streak in professional golf.
His four-stroke lead heading into the weekend is significant in one direction and slightly fragile in another. Twenty-eight of the last 30 US Open champions were within three strokes of the lead after 36 holes. Nobody is currently within three strokes of Wyndham Clark. The one exception in recent memory — Brooks Koepka in 2018, starting five over and winning at Shinnecock. And the last time someone held a four-stroke 36-hole lead at Shinnecock, it was Dustin Johnson in 2018, who promptly shot 77 on Saturday and lost.
So the lead is real. And Shinnecock is real. Both things are true at the same time.
The Redemption Arc
What makes Wyndham Clark's position even more compelling is the context surrounding it. A year ago at Oakmont, Clark destroyed a locker after a bad round — was photographed doing it, and was subsequently banned from Oakmont. It was a moment that defined his public perception for the worst possible reasons. Since then, he has openly acknowledged it, apologized in his victory speech at the Byron Nelson, and talked about trying to win back fans who wrote him off after that incident.
Now he is standing at seven under par at Shinnecock, four strokes clear of the field, holding the best 36-hole score in US Open history at this venue. If Wyndham Clark wins this weekend, the locker room story becomes a footnote. Two US Open wins in four years changes how everyone looks at him as a player and as a person.
The Chasers
Right behind Clark at three under par sits Xander Schauffele. This is his 10th US Open. In the previous nine he has never finished outside the top 15 — a streak only Jack Nicklaus has exceeded in the history of this championship. On Friday alone, Schauffele hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation. It was the 13th time he has hit 16 or more greens in a single major championship round since 2020. The next closest player in that category since 2019 is Jon Rahm — with six. Schauffele has more than doubled that total.
Matt Fitzpatrick is also right there at three under — one of Trey's pre-tournament picks alongside Xander Schauffele. Three wins already this season, a US Open title at Brookline in 2022, and a track record of playing his best on old-school classic golf courses. Shinnecock fits that profile perfectly and Fitzpatrick has positioned himself exactly where he needs to be heading into the weekend.
Colin Morikawa sits alone at two under. A two-time major champion who won the PGA Championship in 2020 and the Open Championship in 2021, Morikawa is one of the finest iron players in the game — a skill set that maps perfectly onto Shinnecock's demands. He is quietly right in this tournament.
Rory McIlroy had a bizarre back nine on Friday — three straight bogeys, a couple of birdies, then a double to limp in. He is still in contention, still capable of making a charge over the weekend. And should Rory find a way to win, it would be his seventh major championship — tying Harry Vardon's all-time record for most majors won by a European player. It would also put him three-quarters of the way to completing a second career grand slam, having already won back-to-back Masters titles in 2025 and 2026.
Scotty Scheffler sits at even par — not the position he wanted, but not a fatal one at this course on this weekend. This is his first opportunity to become the seventh man to complete the career grand slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy. Of the previous six, three completed it on their first attempt. Two took three tries. Rory took 11. Scotty is still in it — but he is going to need to find something over the weekend that has been missing from his game for much of this season.
The LIV Report Card
And then there is the story that the thumbnail tells directly. Every LIV Golf player missed the cut at the 2026 US Open. Every single one.
Jon Rahm — destroyer of worlds, 2021 US Open champion at Torrey Pines, 2023 Masters champion — played a brilliant first round and then fell apart with a six-over second round to miss the cut. The competitive fire that showed up at the PGA Championship at Aronimink, the glimpses of the old Rahm, all of it disappeared on Friday. Cameron Smith, the 2022 Open Champion, was never a factor. And then there is Bryson DeChambeau.
Bryson has now missed the cut in all three majors this year. It is the first time in his career that has happened across three straight majors. For a two-time US Open champion — 2020 at Winged Foot and 2024 at Pinehurst with that incredible bunker shot on 18 to beat Rory by a stroke — this is a stunning stretch of results at the biggest events of the year.
The timing could not be worse for LIV Golf. Scott O'Neill is out trying to raise money and attract investors to a league whose two marquee stars — Rahm and Bryson — just missed the cut at the US Open. And the news coming out simultaneously is that PIF, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, may be shifting from investment to loan structure for their continued LIV funding, which means they want their money back. When your calling cards are struggling this visibly on the biggest stage in golf, that is a very difficult pitch to make.
The Harry Higgs Story
One more story worth celebrating before the weekend begins. Harry Higgs — cult hero, shirt-ripper at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, beloved by everyone who follows this sport — entered this week having made zero cuts and earned zero dollars in six PGA Tour starts this season. He had lost his tour status, gone back to the Corn Ferry Tour to fight his way back, and arrived at Shinnecock as one of the biggest long shots in the field.
He made the cut. He is playing the weekend at the US Open. Whatever happens from here, that alone is worth rooting for.
What to Watch This Weekend
Can Wyndham Clark hold off a golf course that has swallowed four-stroke leaders before? Will Xander Schauffele finally win the one major his game was built for? Can Fitzpatrick add a second US Open title? Does Rory make a charge toward history? Can Scotty find the gear he needs to join six legends? And will Harry Higgs somehow make this weekend even more memorable?
Shinnecock is about to bare its teeth. The weekend starts now.
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