Wyndham Clark carried a six-shot lead into the final round of the 2026 U.S. Open after shooting an even-par 70 at Shinnecock Hills on Saturday. The 2023 US Open champion now has one round left to protect the cushion he built while the field fought wind and a course playing firmer and faster.
Clark Stays In Control
Clark began the weekend at seven under par after setting the 36-hole scoring record for a US Open at Shinnecock. By the end of Saturday, that margin had stretched again, leaving him alone at the top after a day when only five of the 10 players who started under par stayed there.
He did not separate with a barrage. He birdied the par-five fifth hole, then kept the round together with par-saving putts from 5 feet on three occasions and rescues from 6 feet, 7 feet, and 14 feet. On the 16th, he hit a 275-yard approach to inside 5 feet and made the first eagle of the week at that hole.
Scottie Scheffler And Rory McIlroy
Scottie Scheffler signed for a one-under 69 and finished as the nearest pursuer. That left the world No 1 as the main threat behind Clark when Sunday arrived, while Sam Stevens had already trimmed the margin earlier in the day by birdieing the first hole and turning a four-shot 36-hole lead into a two-shot 37-hole lead.
Rory McIlroy added more volatility. The Masters champion opened with three straight birdies, holed a 66-foot putt from off the sixth green, and briefly moved to two under par before the round unraveled into a three-over 73 after bogeys at the 10th, a three-putt at the 12th, and further mistakes at the 14th, 15th, and 18th holes.
Clark said, "That’s what you have to make to win US Opens" after the round, and his own numbers backed it up. "You’re not going to have too many birdie putts … you’ve got to make those kind of five- to 12-footers," he said, a summary of the work Saturday demanded on a layout roughly 80 miles east of Manhattan. Rickie Fowler’s Pink Puma Shoes turn heads elsewhere at the 2026 U.S. Open, but Clark’s scorecard was the one carrying the weight at Shinnecock Hills.
Shinnecock Hills Pressure
The final-round setup is straightforward: Clark starts Sunday with the tournament in his hands, Scheffler is the closest named challenger, and McIlroy is the player whose early surge never turned into a real closing push. Whether Scheffler or anyone else can erase a six-shot gap in one round is the unanswered piece left on the board.
