Wyndham Clark gives himself breathing room with final US Open day ahead

When Wyndham Clark went into the final round of the U.S. Open in 2023, there were unknowns. He hadn’t won a major before. He was tied atop the Los Angeles Country Club field — not carrying a lead at all, let alone the six-shot one he’ll bring into Sunday at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.

As Clark pushes for his second U.S. Open title in four years, he has, in a way, sucked the life out of the tournament. He shot an even-par 70 on Saturday, but with a late tee time and dusk approaching, the crowd had already started to filter out by the end of his round — something that Clark, who said he feeds off the energy, called unfortunate. His eagle on 16 lacked pop. There weren’t many drama-filled moments. Scottie Scheffler, one of only two golfers to shoot under par in the third round, put himself in position to chase, but even the world No. 1’s best might not be enough.

That’s what an opening-round 64 can do at a notoriously difficult course. He leads Scheffler and a group of others by six shots, sitting 18 holes away from becoming the ninth wire-to-wire winner in U.S. Open history, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

“It was very up and down, holy smokes,” Clark said. “I hit some good shots; I hit some terrible shots. … At the end of the day, I improved my lead, which is awesome, and I shot even par on a very tough golf course.”

Clark, who took on a villainous role last year when he destroyed a locker at Oakmont Country Club, did everything he could to avoid falling into the Shinnecock tracks that others succumbed to. He used several key pars to keep his lead intact, including three on the seventh, 10th and 11th holes that Clark said he was most proud of. Then, after bogeying the 15th hole, Clark delivered his signature moment on the 16th, when his shot from 275 yards out settled within feet for eagle.

Scheffler’s play threatened to carve into Clark’s advantage even more, though. Sitting a U.S. Open title away from the career Grand Slam, Scheffler bogeyed his first two holes but used a masterful back nine to save his round and weekend. He birdied the 10th hole, unleashed a loud roar and fist pump after doing the same on 14, narrowly missed an eagle putt on 16 and settled for a disappointing par on 18 after missing a putt 7 feet from the hole. Those two shots could loom large on Father’s Day.

“We’ve been battling hard for a few days,” Scheffler said when asked about whether he feels good going into Sunday, “and I did a good job of keeping myself in the tournament. I’ll need a really nice round [Sunday] if I’m going to try and catch Wyndham.”

If anything, Clark demonstrated that his dazzling opening round wasn’t a fluke, even as fans started to filter out. He birdied the fifth hole Saturday to gain a stroke, bogeyed the eighth to lose it and then moved back to 7 under with a dazzling second shot on the 14th hole that curled back to within 5 feet of the pin after hitting the green.

“Sometimes it made it tough to stay really focused because it seemed like everyone was leaving,” Clark said of the crowd, “and it was like the tournament was over, and I had to keep myself really focused and in the present.”

This wasn’t like Rory McIlroy, who fell out of contention with a 5 over on the back nine to fall to 3 over for the tournament. This wasn’t like Cameron Young, the world No. 3 who stumbled in his latest chance to contend for a first major title. This wasn’t like Dylan Wu, who four-putted the first hole in the first pairing of the day, or Chris Gotterup, who watched in frustration as his ball rolled after he set it down on the first hole.

The group of contenders around Clark, beyond Scheffler, eventually started to take shape. Sahith Theegala shot an even-par 70 to stay at 1 under with Scheffler, Tom Kim and Sam Stevens. Emiliano Grillo fired a 3-under 67 — the lowest score of the day that was anchored by four consecutive birdies to close his front nine — to get to even and a tie for sixth alongside Sam Burns, Xander Schauffele and Keith Mitchell.

But on a day that’ll be defined by Shinnecock being vintage Shinnecock, Clark flashed enough of his vintage form to combat it. Because of that, the spotlight will belong to Clark on Sunday. And to this point, it has for the entire tournament, really.

“Hopefully [Sunday] it can be definitely a little more low key,” Clark said, “and hopefully I can play some boring golf.”