Wyndham Clark carried a four-shot lead into the weekend at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills after posting 64 and 69. The same player who is dominating through two rounds has also drawn boos and criticism in recent events, including incidents at Oakmont, Quail
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Wyndham Clark walked into Friday with a number that keeps getting bigger: four shots clear, after two rounds at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
He also walked into the day with a different kind of noise around his name. Through the first two days, Clark is playing better than anyone else in the field, by a wide margin. Yet the boos and jeers haven’t disappeared, and in Canada, they reportedly escalated past what he could shrug off.
Clark followed up a first-round 64 — the round of the championship so far — with a 1-under 69 on Friday. That left him at 6 under for his first eight holes, steady enough to keep control of the leaderboard even as trouble appeared.
The rhythm shifted on the par-4 9th, where he made bogey. He birdied Nos. 12 and 13, then bogeyed the par-5 16th. Still, he closed with a lengthy birdie on the par-4 18th, and now only two golfers have managed to shoot two rounds in the 60s.
The margin matters this week: Clark’s lead sits at four shots over a foursome that includes major champions Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele. Schauffele, in nine U.S. Open starts, has never finished outside the top 15. At the halfway mark. just nine golfers are under par. and only seven shots separate second place from the cutline of 4 over.
This U.S. Open is starting to tilt on Clark’s weekend effort.
He hasn’t always been the most dominant player in any single statistic. but he’s been steady enough to convert chances. The four-time PGA Tour winner also arrived in fine form: he won The CJ Cup Byron Nelson with a final-round 60 to finish at 30 under. then followed that with a solo third at the Memorial. a Signature event. Last week at the Canadian Open. he finished tied for 11th. boosted by a Saturday 63 that was tied for the low round of the tournament.
Still, Clark’s rise hasn’t erased the baggage.
He has been open about mental health and attitude-specific struggles, and he’s also acknowledged that the line between anger and passion can get crossed. Last year at the U.S. Open at Oakmont, he shot 74-74 and missed the cut. On his way out, he smashed a locker, and the photo evidence went viral.
Oakmont responded with a letter that said Clark was no longer permitted on club property. The club reportedly required. for any lifting of the ban. that Clark fully compensate for damages. successfully complete anger management or counselling. and make a “meaningful” contribution to a charity chosen by the board.
Clark later described what it meant to him: “That was a really challenging time and something I’ve deeply regretted and feel awful that I did that. ” he said earlier this week. “But there were so many good lessons in that that really taught me a bunch.” Oakmont is set to host the U.S. Open again in 2033.
The conversation about Clark’s conduct didn’t stop there.
At the PGA Championship last year, he broke a sign near a tee box at Quail Hollow Club that featured not only a sponsor of the event but also a personal one of his. Clark has said he’s taken grief since then and believes it’s deserved.
“I’ve gotten a lot of grief since last year, rightfully so. The thing that’s unfortunate is that’s not who I am, what happened last year. I’m hoping I can win back the fans that I had or some new fans because it was a terrible incident. ” he said. “I really feel like I can show people that I’m fun and outgoing. I’m fierce. competitive. love the game. respect the game. and I just had a bad moment. Hopefully I can win those people back.
“I definitely feel like I’m in a better place. Hopefully a great weekend and great rest of the year, maybe I’ll gain all those fans back.”
On the U.S. Open tee box this week, his golf has answered some of the questions. But it hasn’t answered the one that matters most for his reputation in Canada.
At last week’s RBC Canadian Open, Clark spotted someone in the crowd on Friday wearing a Jack Hughes Team USA hockey jersey. He walked over, asked to borrow it, and gave him $200. Clark got the person’s address and planned to send it back.
On Canadian soil, at The Rink hole at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, it didn’t land the way a simple gesture might. Clark got “plenty of grief,” and the booing carried into the next day.
Clark said he “loved the banter” but admitted he felt the crowd had “crossed the line” on the final hole, with some fans yelling in his backswing.
“I felt more bummed for (eventual champion) Bud (Cauley) because Bud was trying to win a tournament and it seemed like the banter almost took away from his limelight. I was a little bummed about that,” Clark said. “But I brought it on myself, so…”
It’s a complicated balance: Clark knows he’s earned criticism at times. At the same time. there’s a clear human frustration in the way he’s describing it—what he calls a moment that got away from him at Oakmont. a clash that followed him from Quail Hollow. and then a different kind of crowd energy in Canada where he says it stopped being playful.
With the second-biggest lead through 36 holes in U.S. Open history, he may still be on a collision course with another major trophy. Only three times in the last 30 years has a golfer gone on to win the U.S. Open after being outside of two shots of the lead through 36 holes.
Clark understands the moment, and he’s trying to frame it the only way he knows how: a climb after a fall, on and off the course.
“Sometimes you have to go down to go back up,” Clark said. “I think that’s kind of what happens both on the golf course and off the golf course. Right now, I’m trending back up, which is nice.”
Wyndham Clark U.S. Open Shinnecock Hills Matt Fitzpatrick Xander Schauffele Bud Cauley RBC Canadian Open Oakmont Quail Hollow golf news