Clark takes a four-shot lead into the final 36-holes, but no advantage is safe in a U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills


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Wyndham Clark arrived at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club at 6:35 a.m. ET with a four-shot lead, and he will go to bed on Friday night holding that same advantage over the field at the 2026 U.S. Open. In between, there were tons of ups and downs, both for Clark and those chasing him, but the end result of 36 holes of play at iconic Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is a comfortable advantage for the 2023 U.S. Open champion.

While the lead feels substantial, history is not on Clark's side with Moving Day ahead. The 36-hole leader at Shinnecock Hills has never won the U.S. Open, and that group includes Phil Mickelson, who also led by four entering the weekend in 2004.

Clark will have to contend with a number of factors if he's going to break that streak, including a golf course that figures to get firmer, faster and tougher to play, the nerves of leading a major on the weekend and a leaderboard loaded with talent and major championship experience chasing him.

Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele are among the four players tied for second at 3 under. Fitzpatrick, the 2022 U.S. Open champion, scrapped his way around Shinnecock to a Friday 70 to stay within reach of Clark, while Schauffele fired a 66 to put himself in contention for the 10th straight year at a U.S. Open. He's never finished worse than T14 in nine starts.

Collin Morikawa has been out of sight, out of mind since a T7 finish at the Masters, but he seems healthy and in good form after a 65 on Friday that was the low round of the day to vault him into solo sixth at 2 under. Justin Thomas and Sam Burns are also in red figures heading into the weekend at 1 under with Burns in great form of late and trying to contend for his first major title. And then there are the two top-ranked players in the world at even par in Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, both of whom will feel like they've left a number of shots out there this week but know the battle for the U.S. Open trophy is only beginning.

That all sets up what could be a thrilling weekend at Shinnecock Hills. Moving Day at the U.S. Open is often defined by who shifts down the leaderboard as much as who climbs, and all eyes will be on how Clark handles a late Saturday tee time on what's supposed to be a blustery afternoon in Southampton, New York. His performance will determine exactly how many players have a chance come Sunday.

Perhaps he will prove to simply be head and shoulders better than the field this week, but history tells us there are more twists and turns in store for the weekend at the U.S. Open.

2026 U.S. Open leaderboard breakdown, Round 2
1. Wyndham Clark (-7): It wasn't always pretty, but Clark was able to keep the train on the tracks and grind out the kind of 1-under 69 that wins you a U.S. Open. Clark sprayed some drives and drew good lies in the fescue, taking advantage of those breaks to pick up some pars and even birdies to move his round forward. Then, after riding the rollercoaster all round, he capped things off with a 33-footer for birdie at the last to end his round with an exclamation point and keep the field at bay. The challenge for Clark this weekend will be balancing the aggressive mindset that got him into the lead with the natural inclination to try and protect it -- all while battling a golf course that could get much tougher and punish misses even more aggressively than we've seen the first two days.

T2. Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tom Kim, Sam Stevens (-3): Schauffele felt like he let a golden opportunity slide by on Thursday, playing in the friendlier afternoon wave. He didn't miss twice as he charged up the leaderboard again on Friday, this time refusing to give it back late and posting a 66 that has him in contention once again. Fitzpatrick looked like he might hang with Clark early on Friday, but his ball-striking fell out of rhythm, and he had to spend the day scrambling to save pars, somehow getting into the clubhouse with an even-par 70 to stay in a share of second place.

Kim and Stevens are the surprises at the top. Kim burst onto the scene with three wins early in his career but has fallen off the last two seasons. After opening with a solid 70 on Thursday, he found something on Friday to charge to a second-round 67 that has him in the mix at a major for the first time since 2023. Stevens, meanwhile, continued his steady play and is the only player other than Clark to post two rounds in the 60s this week, backing up his Thursday 68 with a Friday 69. The Oklahoma State product has no issue playing in the wind, and at least for two rounds has handled the stress of contending in a U.S. Open.

6. Collin Morikawa (-2): Morikawa wasn't on radars coming into the U.S. Open as he hadn't finished inside the top 20 in his last three starts on the PGA Tour with his health remaining a question. However, after a 73 in the first round, he charged up the leaderboard with a 65 in his second round that looked like the Morikawa we saw to start the season. The question for Morikawa is whether he physically holds up for two more rounds, but as he proved at the Masters, he's still got the game to hang around in majors even with the back concerns.

T7. Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Sahith Theegala, Harry Higgs (-1): Thomas found a little extra gear on Friday to shoot a 68 and get into red figures going into the weekend. He's been playing better golf of late, and if he can avoid disasters, few players on this leaderboard are better at stringing together birdies than Thomas. Burns will be disappointed after giving two shots back late after getting it to 3 under, but he's in fantastic form of late and shows no signs of slowing down. Putting is his greatest strength, and with the challenge of the greens at Shinnecock, that gives him quite the advantage this week.

Theegala had a busy Friday with six birdies and three bogeys on his card to post a 67 that got him into red figures. He's been quiet after a strong start to the season, but is finding some form at the right time to contend going into the weekend at Shinnecock. Higgs has had a brutal 2026 but finds himself in the top 10 going into the weekend -- and like Burns, he gave two back late after getting to 3 under. On the 11th, he produced arguably the shot of the tournament when he made a birdie with a putt from off the back of the green, where most players struggle just to save a bogey.

T11. Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and 9 others (E): No one will be more frustrated with their position after two rounds than McIlroy, who has had stretches of golf where he's been near-perfect on both days but hasn't been able to keep it together for a full 18. On Friday, McIlroy made the turn at 2 under for the day and 3 under overall before making three straight bogeys to open his back nine. From there, he bounced back with two birdies, but just as he seemed to be finding some momentum again, he made a dreadful double bogey on the 15th to quickly give those shots back.

Scheffler had a better day, shooting a 68 to erase the 72 from Thursday, but the putter went ice cold on him to prevent his second round from being something special. The good news is Scheffler's ball-striking looked like the Scottie of old. The bad news is he didn't make anything of consequence on the greens all day to take advantage, and as a result, he is still seven shots back. Still, he and McIlroy will know better than anyone that the battle for this U.S. Open is only beginning with how the course will change over the next two days, and if Clark backs up, they're in position to pounce.

T22. Ludvig Åberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Corey Conners, Aaron Rai and 7 others (+1): Åberg never got out of first gear in his second round, failing to make a birdie all day and sliding out of red figures with a 2-over 72. Fleetwood's day was a bit more adventurous, but ended in a 71 nonetheless, as that entire group, with those two and McIlroy, failed to make any progress on a leaderboard that offered opportunity. Rose has had the same week as Fleetwood, posting respectable rounds of 70 and 71 but not producing the type of brilliance being demanded by the scoring ahead of him.

Conners was 3 under for the tournament in the middle of his round, but the wheels came off late for the Canadian as his putter betrayed him and he made four bogeys in his final eight holes to back out of the top 20. Rai had the best round of this group with a 67 to climb into the top 25, as he looks to back up his PGA Championship win with another strong finish in a major.

T34. Cameron Young, Tyrrell Hatton, Max Greyserman and 9 others (+2): Young has been lacking some juice this week. After a lackluster 72 on Thursday, he made one bogey and one birdie in his second round to shoot 70 and stay theoretically in the hunt, but he needs to find something special we haven't seen from him in the first 36 holes to be part of the conversation. Hatton has been a bit more mercurial, in shocking news, but on Friday, that came in the form of a positive move up the leaderboard with a 68 as he tries to shake off a tough opening 74. Greyserman was among many who touched 3 under on the leaderboard before falling back to Earth, as he went 5 over on his final 10 holes to back out of contention.

T46. Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann, Jordan Spieth, Russell Henley, Miles Russell (a), Jackson Koivun (a) and 8 others (+3): After 28 holes this week, Johnson was 4 under and one shot back of Clark after a birdie on the 10th. By the time he walked off the 15th green, he was 4 over after one of the most shockingly disastrous stretches of golf in recent memory. He doubled the 11th, made two more bogeys after that and then made a quadruple bogey on the 15th after a bunker nightmare.

Somehow, that wasn't the wildest hole someone in this group had this week, as late Thursday night, Niemann made a septuple-bogey 11 on the 6th hole after sending two balls out of bounds and then earning a two-shot code of conduct penalty for launching a sand wedge in frustration after hacking out of the fescue with his sixth shot. After petitioning against that penalty to no avail, Niemann went out and fired a 65 in Friday's second round to make the cut in stunning fashion, knowing that without that 6th hole, he'd be right there in the mix.

Russell and Koivun were the most talked-about amateurs coming into the week and have not disappointed with their quality play so far. Koivun, who will join the PGA Tour next week when he turns pro, has been as advertised, while the 17-year-old Russell plays with a patience and veteran savvy well beyond his years as a high schooler. They're tied with some of the world's best and will play two more rounds at Shinnecock Hills.

T60. Hideki Matsuyama, Robert MacIntyre, Chris Gotterup and 10 others (+4): The group at 4 over made the weekend courtesy of some generosity from Dylan Wu, whose late bogey moved the cut from +3 to +4 and brought 12 others with him to the weekend, including some big names like Matsuyama, MacIntyre and Gotterup.

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