Wyndham Clark played flawlessly over the tough Shinnecock track for 36 holes racing to a lead in very tough but fair conditions.  Clark stayed out of trouble for the bulk of Thursday and Friday while the rest of the field fought to survive the windy conditions.  The USGA was not going to let the wind aerate these greens syringing the greens when necessary to keep conditions playable.  Green speeds were slower than usual to prevent the wind from turning them into unplayable conditions.  Players were able to stop the ball or spin it a bit, which essentially leveled the playability of the greens and the course to fair conditions.  LIV players showed up in force with Brookes Koepka, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, and Bryson DeChambeau, on the front part of the leader board on day 1.  Their resurgence was short-lived as all of them virtually collapsed and missed the cut in disappointing fashion.  The chase to the front was led by a number of players including Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns, Tom Kim and a host of others.  Scottie Schleffer was lurking near the top of the pack as he continues to play brilliantly from tee to green, but he just isn’t capitalizing on his play as the putts just aren’t dropping for him.  It has been a 2026 frustrating season for Scheffler with the putter as his major starts have been slow and then finishes with a flurry coming up just short.  This US Open would be no different for Scheffler as the New York crowd treated him as if he played for the New York Knicks.  Clark is still living off his bad behavior at last year’s venue at Oakmont County Club, where he destroyed some lockers after missing the cut.  He continues to apologize for the anger display and it’s clear that it is long past time to forgive him and move forward.  New York fans clearly were pulling for Scheffler as he continued to pursue the Grand Slam of golf

After the 36 hole cut, which nailed most of the LIV players, it seemed like Clark could be running away much as Tiger Woods had accomplished in Pebble Beach in 2000.  .  It didn’t turn out that way as Clark’s wonderful tee to green play in the first two rounds went from stellar to merely pedestrian.  He battled and credit his focus as he continued to drain difficult putts for par–putts that afforded Scheffler birdie opportunities that he couldn’t cash in on.  Clark’s cushion almost evaporated on Sunday as he carded a 3 over 38 on the opening nine allowing the field to close in, but the field couldn’t push hard enough over the difficult Shinnecock venue.  Sam Burns would make up almost the entire deficit and got to within one shot on the back nine, but Clark didn’t wilt.  Clark’s focus was Nicklaus/Woods-like as he continued to play himself out of the rough, understanding the lies and draining par putt after par putt.  On the final hole with a slender one shot lead, Clark faced a treacherous 52 foot putt up the hill-two putts to win another US Open-or face a playoff.  Many a three-putt had occurred on this green during the day’s  play but Clark went through his process–the NBC commentator stated accurately that it needed to be 134% of speed up the hill–it takes a lot of courage to hit a putt 134% let alone for a US Open Championship.  Clark accurately assessed the situation as he rapped that putt up the hill missing the hole by no more than a few inches–his second US Open victory was secured.

The USGA has to very pleased with the results of this competitive event.  Shinnecock was difficult but fair and not impossible.  The fairways were a tad wider than normal but not as generous as the typical PGA tour stop.  The rough was penal and you were penalized for getting into it but that is typical US Open punishment.  The Shinnecock setup completely offset what happened there in previous US Opens as fiery greens presented some unfair situations for the players in prior opens played here.    Shinnecock certainly preserved its status as a valuable US Open venue for future USGA Open competitions.