Wyndham Clark opened the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills with a 7-under-par run that left him atop the leaderboard after Friday’s second round—while also confronting the lasting fallout from an Oakmont locker-room outburst at the 2025 U.S. Open. Clark said
Wyndham Clark walked to the press questions with a lead in hand and the noise from last year still following him.
After his 1-under 69 in Round 2 on Friday, the 32-year-old finished the first two days of the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills at 7-under par, highlighted by three birdies on the back nine, including one on No. 18. His position at the top comes with a rare kind of stat: he is the only golfer under par in both rounds of the tournament.
But the scoreboard isn’t the only thing that’s been tracking him.
Clark has been dealing with the image that grew out of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, when he had to apologize after damaging two lockers inside Oakmont’s locker room. In the weeks that followed his exit—he missed the 36-hole cut—pictures of the damage went viral on social media.
Friday. as he was asked how his perception has changed since that incident. Clark didn’t try to soften what happened. “I’ve gotten a lot of grief since last year, rightfully so,” he told reporters after his 69. “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 then framed the outburst as a breakdown in the moment rather than a defining trait. Clark acknowledged how he wants people to see him going forward—“fun and outgoing,” “fierce,” “competitive,” and someone who “love[s] the game” and “respect[s] the game”—and said the incident was “a bad moment.”
“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. ” Clark said. “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.”.
He was also adamant that the incident wasn’t who he is. Asked directly about his character, he insisted the “terrible incident” does not reflect his personality, and he referred to what happened last year as “a moment of rage.”
While the locker-room episode remains tied to his name, the early stretch at Shinnecock Hills has looked more controlled. Clark didn’t win his lone major title wire-to-wire at Los Angeles Country Club three years ago. but he has been playing well of late—winning the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and finishing third at The Memorial last month.
This week at the U.S. Open, Clark leaned on his putter, crediting it for helping him work through some poor drives off the tee. Through the first two rounds. he has also placed among the top golfers in strokes gained on approach shots and in greens in regulation. even while hitting only 75% of fairways.
As he tries to turn this weekend into a reset, Clark pointed to the emotional whiplash of going from peak confidence to public apology.
“I was on top of the world in my game at least when I won the U.S. Open and then had some good years. Then next thing you know, I’m apologizing for breaking a locker the year later,” Clark said on Friday. “If you think of it as climbing Everest. Sometimes you go up, sometimes you have to go down to go back up. 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.”.
His lead at Shinnecock Hills is giving him an opening to do what he said he needs most: change the story people tell about him. The U.S. Open is still far from over. but for Clark. the next part of the weekend won’t only be about staying atop the leaderboard—it will be about whether the fans he wants back are willing to look past the Oakmont outburst and watch a different version of him take shape.
Wyndham Clark 2026 U.S. Open Shinnecock Hills Oakmont locker incident golf leaderboard CJ Cup Byron Nelson The Memorial
So he broke lockers and apologized? Golf fans will forgive anything I guess.
I don’t even care about the leaderboard, the Oakmont locker room thing sounds wild. Like how do you damage lockers and then just show up acting normal? If he’s “fun and outgoing” now… sure.
Wait, wasn’t this the year he got kicked out for fighting? I read somewhere it was like security had to step in. Either way, if the pictures went viral then it’s kinda his own fault for being angry in public.
He’s only under par because everyone else is choking, that’s the vibe. But also, the ‘win back the fans’ part feels like marketing talk after last year. You can be competitive and still not trash stuff, like come on. Shinnecock Hills is gonna be tense now because people will keep bringing up Oakmont during interviews.