SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Wyndham Clark rapped his 35-foot putt and immediately rose from his crouch, worried it might have too much pace down the slope on the 18th green Friday in the U.S. Open. It curled into the side of the cup for a final birdie and another standard he set at Shinnecock Hills.
It wasn't his best putt, just another birdie for a 1-under 69, and it summed up his week.
Clark doesn't feel he is playing his best, but he's four shots ahead going into the weekend with the lowest 36-hole score — 7-under 133 — for a U.S. Open at fearsome Shinnecock Hills.
“Hopefully, I can bring my A-game on the weekend,” Clark said.
His four-shot lead was the largest at a U.S. Open through 36 holes since Dustin Johnson led by four at Shinnecock Hills the last time it was here in 2018. That didn't end well for Johnson when the USGA lost control of the frightening greens on Saturday.
What now?
The USGA promised it wouldn't let the course get away like it did in the third round in 2018 and the final round in 2004, when the average score on the last day was 78.7 and no one broke par. Shinnecock began to bake under a warm sun late Friday afternoon, with more of the same — and stronger wind — in the forecast.
“The golf course can change pretty quickly, and so a lot of that depends on do they want to water the greens, how fast they want to get them, where is the wind direction coming from, can they get them much quicker,” said Scottie Scheffler, who kept the career Grand Slam in play.
Scheffler ended his drought of 10 straight U.S. rounds without breaking par with a steady diet of fairways and greens for a 68, leaving him seven shots behind.
“We'll see what they want to do,” Scheffler said. “My job is to out there and play it.”
Clark is getting the job done. He returned Friday morning and made two pars to complete a 64, the lowest start to a U.S. Open at Shinnecock. Then he delivered two birdie putts in the 30-foot range along the back nine to pull further ahead.
“I really felt like I could be in double digits (under par),” Clark said. “But you know, the great thing about that is I didn’t feel like I had my best, and I still am leading as of right now."
Xander Schauffele, with the best U.S. Open record of anyone without a U.S. Open title over the last 10 years, had a 66 to finish at 137 along with Matt Fitzpatrick, a former U.S. Open champion who birdied two of his last three holes to salvage a 70.
They were joined at 137 in the afternoon, when the course began to dry, by Sam Stevens (69) and Tom Kim (67).
Rory McIlroy was closing on Clark until starting the back nine with three straight bogeys, and erasing a pair of birdies by chipping from the back of 15th green into a bunker and making double bogey. He shot 71 and joined Scheffler in the group at even-par 140.
So much depends on Clark. Maybe more depends on Shinnecock.
“If there’s a course where you feel like you still have a chance if you’re seven back going into the weekend like I am, it’s definitely this one,” McIlroy said.
It's a better chance than Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, the two biggest stars from LIV Golf who missed the cut. DeChambeau left early from his third straight major. Rahm, a runner-up at the PGA Championship last month, went 21 holes without a bogey. But he shot 41 on the back nine for a 78 to match his highest U.S. Open score, last shot at Shinnecock Hills in 2018.
The most remarkable day belonged to Joaquin Niemann. He made a 9 on No. 6 — his 15th and final hole of the fog-delayed first round that was halted by darkness — only for it to become an 11 when the USGA penalized two shots for bad behavior.
Niemann hit two drives off the property, chopped his way up the fairway and finally lost it by heaving his club. The USGA deemed it serious enough to skip the warning and go straight to the harsh two-shot penalty, giving him a 78.
Niemann headed out for his second round, made five birdies in six holes and shot 65 to make it to the weekend at 3-over 143. It was the first time in 97 years at the U.S. Open someone made 10 or worse in a U.S. Open and still make the cut.
“All the frustration that came inside me and had my club in my hand, and I couldn’t resist to throw it away,” Niemann said. “There was no people, obviously. No one there. I’m not proud of it, but yeah, sometimes all the expectation of trying to play well and things doesn’t go your way, you get frustrated. And that was me there.”
Collin Morikawa also shot 65 to match Niemann for the low score Friday, and was five behind. Justin Thomas and Sam Burns each shot 68 and were another shot back.
Clark was on a heater coming into Shinnecock Hills, winning The CJ Cup Byron Nelson with a 60 in the final round, contending in the Memorial and the ɫtv Open the last two weeks. Frustration peaked a year ago at Oakmont and in the months that followed. Now, he appears to be more comfortable with each day.
“Momentum is a huge thing in golf, and I feel like I have it right now,” Clark said.
Schauffele has seven top 10s in his nine U.S. Open appearances, a Californian who keeps his cool even amid a tough test.
“It’s a brutal week,” Schauffele said. “Everyone watching at home wants to see guys shooting in the 80s and doing crazy things. I get it. You know, it’s once a year you get to see some carnage, and it’s at a U.S. Open. Try to embrace it as much as you can.”
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