SOUTHHAMPTON, NY. Wyndham Clark holds the lead after the first two rounds of the 126th US Open Championship hosted at Shinnecock Hills. The 2023 winner at Los Angeles CC leads a grouping of five players by four shots.

That group of players includes 2022 US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick, two-time major winners Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa, Japan’s Tom Kim and American Sam Stevens.

Clark started play Thursday with a six-under-par 64 — the lowest produced in an opening round at Shinnecock Hills and the second lowest 18-hole score at the six-time venue of the US Open.

He then followed-up with an early Friday starting time of 6:35 AM since play was suspended because of darkness Thursday and scored a one-under-par 69 highlighted by a closing birdie from 35 feet at the 18th hole.

Clark’s 133 total after the first two rounds is the lowest cumulative total ever scored at the Southampton-based venue.

Clark rode a hot streak when coming to Shinnecock Hills. In his last three starts on the PGA Tour, he won The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, had a third at The Memorial and at last week’s RBC Canadian Open finished T11.

Clark’s arrival at Shinnecock Hills marks his 19th appearance in a major championship. His only top ten finishes have been his win in this event three years ago and T4 at last year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Interestingly. He has nine missed cuts in his efforts among golf’s four majors.

Twenty players are within seven shots of the lead at the halfway point and the most notable in that sizeable contingent are world ranked numbers 1 and 2 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy respectively. Scheffler rebounded from an opening two-over-par 72 and his play was much sharper Friday with a two-under-par 68.

McIlroy went through an up-and-down round with two birdies and no blemishes on his outward nine before being upended with three consecutive bogies and then rebounding with two birdies in succession at holes 13 and 14 and then proceeded to make a double-bogey at the 15th before concluding his play with three successive pars and a round of 71.

Clark’s assessment of his round was straightforward.

“Yesterday, I really drove it great, and then I was just really conservative into the greens. These greens are obviously the challenge of this golf course.

“Then today I kind of did the same thing. Wasn’t as sharp, but the consistency of hitting it to kind of conservative targets really paid off.”

As with the opening round, Shinnecock Hills was impacted by consistent wind velocities in the 15-25 mph range, with gusts peaking at 31. Players were forced to be ever mindful of target lines when approaching the vexing greens which have been aided by closely mown areas to the sides. Haphazard approach shots have routinely scampered away additional distances and presented a range of perplexing challenges.

The 36-hole cut came at 144 with 77 players among them. Among the notables going home for the weekend are two-time US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau who failed to make the cut at this year’s Masters and PGA Championship. Joining the sidelines for weekend play includes Brooks Koepka — the five-time major winner who won the last US Open held at Shinnecock Hills in 2018.

Clark is well aware leading after two rounds means nothing. But he is equally confident his high caliber play will continue this weekend.

“You know, momentum is a huge thing in golf, and I feel like I have it right now. Just keep it going. Keep pushing that momentum ball down the hill.”

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What’s next?

Round 3 will begin at 9 a.m. ET with all groups going off No. 1 in twosomes. The final pairing of Wyndham Clark and Matt Fitzpatrick will tee off at 3:45 PM ET.

Notable

• A player has held a 36-hole lead of exactly four strokes in the US Open three times:
-Tom McNamara, 1909 at Englewood GC, finished 2nd

-Jim Barnes, 1921 at Columbia CC, won

-Dustin Johnson, 2018 at Shinnecock Hills GC, finished 3rd

• Wyndham Clark’s total of 133 (-7) is the lowest ever through 36 holes in a US Open at Shinnecock Hills GC.

• Ryder Cowan (T-11) is the fifth amateur since 2000 to be among the Top 12 after 36 holes in a US Open, joining:

-Cameron Champ, 2017, T8 after 36, finished T-32

-Brian Campbell, 2017, T8 after 36, finished T-27

-Beau Hossler, 2012, T9 after 36, finished T-29

-Nick Taylor, 2009, T7 after 36, finished T-36

• Scottie Scheffler, who snapped a 10-round streak of not breaking par at the US Open today with a 68 (-2), jumped up 38 spots from T49 at the end of round 1 to T11 at the end of round 2. It is the largest leaderboard jump from round 1 to round 2 in his major championship career.

• The two players with the longest active streaks of making the cut at the US Open (Brooks Koepka- 11 straight and Harris English- 10 straight) both missed the cut this week. The longest active streaks now belong to Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama, both now at 10.

• The most remarkable day belonged to Joaquín 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 majors are cracking down on behavior this year — the Masters was the first to use the policy this year — and the USGA deemed it serious enough to skip the warning and go straight to the harsh two-shot penalty. 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 US Open someone made 10 or worse in a US Open and still make the cut.

• Winds are expected to shift slightly to the Northwest for Saturday’s 3rd round and could feature steady velocities of 15-18 mph. The Sunday forecast is for wind to remain the same direction but with less vigorous strength.

Related: Wyndham Clark Leads US Open With a Mixed Bag After Titleist Deal Ended

Clark entered 2026 as an equipment free agent and built a multi-brand setup spanning TaylorMade, Ping and Titleist. Halfway through the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, the experiment is working.