Key events
As Wyndham Clark sets up another birdie chance at 14, I’ll hand you over to Matt Cooper for a wee while.
London buses and all that. After breaking his duck for the round with a red number at 12, Wyndham Clark drains a 28-footer for birdie at 13 and hits the giddy heights of -7. That’s now a five-shot lead. Hmmm. This is looking uncomfortable for both the chasing pack on the course and the likes of McIlroy and Scheffler who have yet to play a shot today.
But one man definitely not going away is Xander Schauffele. Clark’s five-shot lead lasts a matter of seconds as Schauffle pours in a birdie on 4, his 13th, to move to -3.
Fitzpatrick stays in tied fourth after an incredible par at the lengthy par-4 14th. He finds sand with his second, splashes out into greenside rough and could be looking at a double. But his chip from the gnarly stuff hurtles towards the hole, jams against the flag and drops! That could be huge.
-7: Clark (13)
-3 Schauffele (13*)
-2: Stevens (-)
-1: Morikawa (14), Fitzpatrick (14), Conners (13*), Bhatia (11), Rose (10), McIlroy (-), Aberg (-), Greyserman (-), Harman (-), James (-)
The datagolf website has an impressive array of live stats. They’re predicting +4 to be the most likely cutline at 64%. It’s 16% for +3 and 20% for +5. Shane Lowry (+4 after 11) and Jordan Spieth (+4 after 9) are among those in danger of not making the weekend. Bryson DeChambeau (+3 after 12) is okay – for now at least.
At last! Wyndham Clark mades his first birdie of round two after sinking a five-footer at 12. And with a series of mistakes and dropped shots in the pack beneath, suddenly the 2023 US Open winner is four clear again. Dustin Johnson is now five in arrears after following his double at 11 with a bogey at 12. After catching branches with his backswing, DJ’s second finds more rough and he takes three from there to pencil in a ‘5’.
Clark would certainly be somewhat envious of Collin Morikawa’s round today. The two-time major winner has splashed five drops of red on his scorecard via birdies at 3, 5, 6, 9 and 11. With just a single bogey in his opening 13 holes, Morikawa has vaulted up to tied seventh and just three off the lead.
That said, Clark has a golden chance to register his first birdie of the day after a sumptous approach at 12 finishes just five feet away.
-5: Clark (11)
-2: Mouw (15), Conners (12*), Johnson (11), Schauffele (11*), Stevens (-)
Shinnecock is winning this little portion of round two. Matt Fitzpatrick has just made a second straight bogey to fall to -1, DJ dropped two at the previous hole and Clark still can’t buy a birdie. Johnson is also in the trees at 12 and trying to get a ruling.
Once more, this time at 11, Clark’s birdie try is ushered away from the hole by the golfing gods in situ at Shinnecock. But, as we keep saying, don’t dismiss the value of a par. While Clark scribbles a ‘3’ on his card, Dustin Johnson takes double bogey after getting in a right old mess in a bunker at the short par 3. Suddenly, Clark’s lead trebles from one to three as DJ drops back into a six-way tie for second.
It’s been a tough trot for amateur Ryder Cowan over his last nine holes. After a gain at the par-5 tth, the 21-year-old from Oklahoma was tied for second. But after pars at 6 and 7 he’s dropped shots at 8, 11, 12 and 14 to spiral down to 25th. He’s still leading the race to be top amateur but only by a shot from fellow American Miles Russell.
Looking at the list of Low Amateurs in the US Open throws up some stellar names. We have Russell Henley (2010), Patrick Cantlay (2011), Jordan Spieth (2012), Matt Fitzpatrick (2014), Jon Rahm (2016), Scottie Scheffler (2017) and Viktor Hovland (2019).
Shinnecock is just playing with Clark a little here. After the three-putt at 9, his birdie try at 10 from 12 feet lips out. After yielding a 64 in round one, it’s as if the course is stood in front of him with arms folded saying ‘nope’ as he tries to add more birdies today.
Clark’s miss allows DJ to pull within one as he converts from six feet at the same hole. But up ahead at 11, after finding sand and playing a brilliant bunker shot to five feet, Fitzpatrick misses the par putt. He goes the other way, dropping from -3 to -2.
-5: Clark (10)
-4: D Johnson (10)
-2: Mouw (14), M Fitzpatrick (11), Conners (11*), Thomas (9*), Schauffele (9*), Stevens (-)
Clark’s long game looked in fine shape on that front nine. But the putter? Not so much. The leader hit all seven fairways and seven out of nine greens in regulation but he took 17 putts i.e. over two per hole.
It’s easy to think everyone is still jockeying for position at this stage and that the weekend is where it all happens. But here’s something worth bearing in mind: only two US Open champions in the last 30 years were outside the top six at halfway. Yes, it’s the kind of dramatic stat that deserves to be bolded up. And I have done.
The exceptions were Matt Fitzpatrick, who was tied 13th with 36 to play at Brookline in 2021 and a charging Webb Simpson at Olympic Club in 2012. Simpson was 29th at the midpoint in California.
That said, even Simpson was only six back (Fitzpatrick was three off the pace). So, to get to the point, if Clark pars in and sets a clubhouse target of -6, you’ve got no chance of catching him if starting the weekend at over par.
As I write this, Clark three-putts the 9th! He drops back to -5. Hope for the chasing pack. DJ is left kicking himself after wasting a monstrous 391-yard drive at 9 by missing a six-foot birdie putt. If that had gone in, Johnson would have been just one behind.
To the back nine we go…
Almost no movement at the top of the leaderboard so far today. Clark’s lead has oscillated between three and four strokes all morning and he’s just made an eighth straight par after confidently rolling in a four-footer at 8. Matt Fitzpatrick, three back and joint-second alongside Johnson, completes a full set of front-nine pars after a two-putt from 24 feet at 9.
Talking of major winners, double US PGA champion Justin Thomas is making a move though. He’s the hot man on the course thanks to birdies at 11, 15 and 16.
-6: Clark (8)
-3: M Fitzpatrick (9), D Johnson (8)
-2: Mouw (12), Conners (9*), Thomas (8*), Rahm (5), Stevens (-)
While Clark and Fitzpatrick can’t find a red number, Justin Rose has scribbled two on his card this morning. The 2013 US Open winner at Merion has made back-to-back birdies at 4 and 5 (from 11 feet and two-and-a-half feet respectively) to sneak into the top 10 on even par. He shares tied 10th with Xander Schauffele, who has never finished worse than 14th in nine US Opens, a ludicrous achievement on such a range of tough, tough courses. Schauffele has picked up shots at 15 and 16 (his sixth and seventh) today.
Wyndham Clark puts his hands to his face and gives it a disbelieving rub as his birdie try from 19 feet at 6 somehow hangs on the lip and stays out. He can afford a wry smile as he walks back to his caddie as there’s nothing wrong at all with a seventh straight par.
Clark’s lead remains at three as Matt Fitzpatrick also fails to break his par streak with a 15-footer at 8. The Englishman’s wedge from 126 yards caught a slope to set up the chance but he’d wanted to have put it closer.
Clark and Fitzpatrick have 15 straight pars between them at the start of round two and remain first (by three) and tied second. That’s US Open golf. Pars are valuable currency.
Tee-times. Rory McIlroy compiled a 1-under 69 and Scottie Scheffler a 2-over 72 on day one. Tommy Fleetwood came in with a 70. Here’s when those three tee off later today, along with a few other notable groups.
USA unless stated, x denotes amateur. All times BST.
Hole 1
18:51 Sam Burns, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Si Woo Kim (Kor)
18:58 Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Ludvig Åberg (Swe), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)
Hole 10
18:40 Brooks Koepka, Cameron Young, Chris Gotterup
19:24 Mason Howell (x), Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun
The flags are certainly fluttering at Shinnecock today but there’s nothing extreme predicted in terms of wind speeds. The forecast suggests 15mph-17mph all day with the odd gust in the 20s. Sunday’s closing round looks the calmest day of the tournament.
Wyndham Clark has had a few par putts wobble in the hole after catching the edge, the last example at 6, but he’s a third of the way through his second lap now and has yet to drop a shot. Solid, tough, hanging in there US Open golf from the American.
Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa has the best second round score going so far. The American was nine back after an opening 73 but has hauled himself back to even par after birdies at 3, 5 and 6.
A mention too for Dane Niklas Norgaard. An outward half of 2-under 34 and a par at 1 have taken him from +1 to -1. That’s good enough for tied ninth as it stands.
Elswhere, Fitzpatrick produces some short-game magic to get up and down for par at 6 to stay at -3 (six straight pars today) but Jon Rahm’s bogey-free run ends at 21 as he drops his first shot of the tournament at 4, missing a par putt from six feet to return to -1.
Clark has the chance to restore his four-shot overnight lead and hit -7 for the first time. But despite leaving himself just seven feet for birdie at the par-5 6th hole, the 2023 US Open champ can’t convert. Johnson also makes par but Woodland needs six swishes on a hole where he would have been hoping to put a circle on his scorecard.
Four pars to start his second round is just fine for leader Wyndham Clark. Consolidating a low one rather than chasing more birdies is a smart move at a US Open and Clark will want the field to chase him, not come back to them. Matt Fitzpatrick has a great chance to birdie the par-5 6th but he lips out from just over six feet to remain tied second. DJ gave a shot back at 3 but he’s reached the edge of that 6th hole in two big blows so will be confident he can balance the books with a two-putt birdie.
-6: Clark (4)
-3: McGreevy (7*), M Fitzpatrick (5), D Johnson (4)
-2: Mouw (8), Cowan (8), Woodland (4), Rahm (3), Tibbits (1), Stevens (-)
Dustin Johnson has been largely shocking at this level since joining LIV. Last season he missed the cut in all three American-based majors and the narrative was that by moving to the rebel tour he’d gained lots of money but lost his competitive drive. So has his performance here (so far) come out of thin air? Well, not quite. DJ showed some better signs with 33rd at The Masters and 44th in the US PGA Championship but then really stepped it up with top fives in the last two LIV events: fourth at LIV Golf Korea at the end of May and fifth at LIV Golf Andalucia two weeks ago. It’s been six years since the second of his two majors (2020 Masters) but Rory McIlroy had an 11-year gap between his fourth and fifth so let’s not presume that Johnson has had his day.
Contrasting fortunes for the two main men from LIV. Bryson records his second double bogey in a row after clumsy work on and around the green at 4. From even par to +4 (tied 79th) in no time. Forget doubles, Jon Rahm isn’t even entertaining bogeys. After keeping a clean card with 16 pars and two birdies in round one, he’s taken his bogey-free streak to 20 with a pair of pars on lap two. Rahm is tied sixth and looking like a big factor in this tournament.
Grey seemed to dominate the optics at Shinnecock on day one. That was the colour of both the sky and the jumper of choice for Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood. It’s a brighter vibe today. In that leading group, Wyndham Clark and Dustin Johnson are sporting white t-shirts while Gary Woodland appears to have one of Stan Bowles’ QPR shirts from the 70s.
Matt Fitzpatrick has to hole a 27-footer to save par at 3. It keeps him at -3 and in a tie for third. Great work. But not so good for playing partner DeChambeau, who misses the fairway, comes up short with his approach and looks utterly baffled as his par putt from 30 feet drifts five feet past. He completes an error-strewn hole by missing that one so it’s an ugly double bogey and Bryson tumbles down to +2.
The average score in round one was 73.280 which isn’t too exteme for a US Open. Here’s how it compares to the last five years.
Round 1 Scoring Average
2025 Oakmont Country Club 74.64
2024 Pinehurst No.2 73.20
2023 Los Angeles Country Club 71.40
2022 The Country Club at Brookline 72.29
2021 Torrey Pines South Course 74.01
Gary Woodland’s story has been well documented but is worth repeating. Earlier this year he went public with his mental struggle with PTSD, a byproduct of brain surgery to remove a lesion in September 2023. It’s a constant battle for the popular American so it was wonderful to see him win the Houston Open in March – his first victory on the PGA Tour in nearly seven years. The US Open has always been special for him as he won the event at one of golf’s great cathedrals, Pebble Beach, in 2019.
And could Woodland be on track for a second US Open win? He’s made a fantastic start, following up an opening 67 with a birdie at the 1st today after putting his approach to inside three feet. He has work to do at the 2nd though after finding sand and splashing out to 10 feet. His putt just misses left after drifting across the hole and he returns to -3 and in a tie for third. Here’s the latest leaderboard:
-6: Clark (2)
-4: D Johnson (2)
-3: M Fitzpatrick (2), Woodland (2), Cowan (5)
Viktor Hovland and Niklas Norgaard are both wearing vertical striped black and white trousers that, let’s be honest, scream butcher’s apron rather than high fashion. “A pound of sausages and half a pound of mince,” says Ewen Murray in the Sky commentary box as Hovland putts from off the green at 2. The Norwegian’s first effort pulls up short but he saves his bacon by holing a six-footer for par.
No rest for our leaders. Wyndham Clark (leader), Dustin Johnson (solo second) and Gary Woodland (tied third) are all playing in the same group again. That three-ball of former US Open champs shot a combined 13-under in round one which, quite frankly, is astonishing at a Shinnecock playing as tough as ever. They’re starting at Hole 1 today.
Matt Fitzpatrick (tied third) has also got his second lap underway and just missed a 19-foot birdie putt at the 1st. The 2021 Brookline winner is one group ahead of the Clark-DJ-Woodland three-ball and the Englishman has Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland for company. Two-time US Open champion DeChambeau (2020 and 2024) shot an even par 70 in round one but Hovland had a miserable first circuit of Shinnecock, racking up six bogeys and not a single birdie in a 6-over 76. A shame that as Hovland came in on the back of a third place in Canada last week – his best finish of the season.
I’m enjoying the name of one of the players in tied fifth. Spencer Tibbits is a former Oregon State standout but sounds more like he hangs about with Neville Thumbcatch in the the late 60s. Tibbits actually qualified for the US Open at Pebble Beach as an amateur in 2019. Anyway, he’s making an ‘Attack’ on the leaderboard.
What about the weather today? I’ll give you how it’s described in USA Today. Kind of cutesy.
Friday, June 19: Stiff winds with clouds giving way to sun; gusty winds will continue to pose problems for golfers.
Saturday, June 20: Stiff winds with plenty of sunshine; gusty winds will continue to pose problems for golfers.
Sunday, June 21: Times of clouds and sunshine; nice for Father’s Day activities.
Do these activities include telling your kids to leave you alone as you’re watching the golf?
Wyndham Clark leads by two with 6-under 64
Overnight leader Wyndham Clark pars the final two holes via a pair of short putts and posts the clubhouse lead of 6-under 64. Well played that man! But look at the bunch behind him – a trio of fellow former US Open winners. Dustin Johnson, the champion at Oakmont in 2016, has picked up shots at 7 and 9 this morning to shoot 66 and cut Clark’s overnight lead in half. Meanwhile, the 2023 Brookline winner, Matt Fitzpatrick, and 2019 Pebble Beach hero Gary Woodland both finished birdie-par at 8 and 9 when returning to the course and they’re just three back.
And, lo and behold, there’s a fifth former US Open champion who is in the bunch at -2. Jon Rahm still has three to play so still has the chance to improve his score. In the meantime, some players have already started round two. That includes amateur Ryder Cowan, who has started par-par to remain at -2.
Here’s what I guess we’re calling the second-round leaderboard. I’ve put in some random syllable (^) to show that Rahm is still playing his first round. If that’s not the right convention, sue me.
-6: Clark (-)
-4: D Johnson (-)
-3: M Fitzpatrick (-), Woodland (-)
-2: Cowan (2), Stevens (-), Rahm (15*^), McGreevy
While we wait for Clark and others to finish, here’s Bryan Armen Graham’s report of the day one action.
Preamble
Hello everyone! The pace of play at a US Open is always sloooow and the grind wasn’t helped by a two-hour fog delay on Thursday morning. It meant many of those in the afternoon wave didn’t compete their rounds.
So they’re heading out again this morning and that includes the runaway leader Wyndham Clark. Anything under the par of 70 was considered excellent in the tough Thursday conditions but 2023 US Open champion Clark somehow got to -6 through his first 16 holes before bad light stopped play. Can he stay there, or go even lower, when he finishes up early this morning? We’ll find out shortly.
