Wyndham Clark leads disrupted opening round at Shinnecock Hills
Every reason to be smiling after his impressive start – Wyndham Clark – image USGA/Logan Whitton
At 8.25 pm local time, round one of the 2026 US Open at Shinnecock Hills was suspended due to darkness, play having been delayed for two hours much earlier in the day when fog caused the suspension of play after play had been under way for just 30 minutes or so.
When play was called, Wyndham Clark had saved par from a bunker to the left of the 7th green (his 16th hole of the day) to remain at 6 under par, and he headed to the clubhouse with, still, two holes to play, holding a four-shot lead over a large group at 2 under, four of whom had yet to finish their opening rounds.
Amongst that group at 2 under were four former US Open champions, namely Dustin Johnson who had just double bogeyed his 15th hole, Matthew Fitzpatrick who has 12 feet left for a possible birdie at his 16th hole when he returns tomorrow, Gary Woodland who has a 30 footer for birdie at his 16th hole and Jon Rahm who is playing the 14th hole and is 74 yards from the hole with his 3rd shot at the par 5.
So things might change when those yet to finish return to the course early on Friday morning, but Clark has been simply brilliant in his opening round effort.
Making the turn at 3 under 32, Clark bogeyed his 11th hole, but then came two birdies and an eagle in his next three and with two holes to play, his four-shot lead might even be extended when he completes his round.
“Obviously, getting off to a great start was good,” said Clark. “Birdieing the first two was really nice. Then I kind of had a little bit of a lull, but made some great par saves. It was great birdieing 18 (his 9th).
“Then a little mishap, missed a shorty on 1 and then a bogey on 2, but then got into a nice rhythm. Yeah, everything was kind of clicking. We were definitely fortunate with the wind laying down. Overall, a good round.
“I would say when I got my tee times on Tuesday, I was like, oh, it could be a tough draw. That two-hour fog delay was very helpful, and it was really nice it laid down. So it definitely helped those last six, seven holes we played.”
There are several other heavyweights at 1 under and five from the lead including Rory McIlroy who faced the force of the winds through much of his round of 69. When he finished his round, it appeared that he might very well be amongst the day one leaders before the winds lessened later in the day and the demanding layout became just a little bit more generous.
Ryan Fox heads the Australasians at this stage – image USGA
The leading Australasian at this stage is Ryan Fox, who was putting together an impressive opening effort when he fought his way to 1 under through 12 holes before bogeys at his 15th and 16th holes and a par at the 17th had him at 1 over and in a share of 29th with one hole to play on Friday morning.
Adam Scott, playing his 100th consecutive major, finished with a round of 73 to be at 3 over and in a share of 76th, shares the second leading Australasian position with Min Woo Lee, who has four holes to play in round one tomorrow.
Lucas Herbert finished with 74, Cameron Smith 75 and Jason Day was forced to withdraw with a back injury after playing several holes.
