SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Barring a stunning collapse, two stories could have happy endings when the final round of the U.S. Open wraps up at Shinnecock Hills on Sunday.
The first belongs to Wyndham Clark, who enters the final 18 holes sitting on a six-shot lead. In the entire history of the U.S. Open, no player has ever blown a lead that large after 54 holes. In fact, the last time a golfer lost a five-shot lead at this major was 107 years ago.
The second potential winner is the USGA itself.
Shinnecock Hills, the Long Island course known for its sandy soil and vulnerability to wind and sun, has twice turned the U.S. Open into a near-unmanageable ordeal. In 2004, not a single player finished the final round under par. Then in 2018, several greens became nearly unplayable during the afternoon, creating widespread chaos — and producing the most recent U.S. Open where the winning score finished above par.
This year has been a different story. John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s chief competitions officer, said the plan was to start the week on the gentler side and allow conditions to naturally become more demanding as the tournament progressed.
Clark, who captured the U.S. Open title at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023, has made that plan look almost irrelevant with the quality of his play. He has set a new Shinnecock scoring record after each of the first three rounds, combining long-range putting, a sharp short game, and a highlight-reel 3-wood that produced the tournament’s only eagle of the week on the par-5 16th hole.
Heading into Sunday, Clark stood at 7-under par, totaling 203 for the tournament. Behind him, only four other players had managed to reach 1-under par, with four more sitting at even par.
The final round will answer whether Clark can become the first wire-to-wire U.S. Open champion since Martin Kaymer won at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014 — or whether Scottie Scheffler can mount a birthday comeback on his 30th birthday to complete the career Grand Slam.
