Wyndham Clark up by 6 at US Open, Scottie Scheffler leads chasing pack

Field Level Media

Wyndham Clark has a reputation he wants to shake.

Clark outlasted Rory McIlroy to win the 2023 U.S. Open. But just last year at the same championship, he was banned from Oakmont Country Club after destroying a locker in anger when he missed the cut.

Clark is back on the upswing of navigating a fiendish setup at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. He made a magnificent eagle at No. 16 and posted an even-par 70 Saturday to give himself a six-shot cushion entering the final round of the U.S. Open in Southampton, N.Y.

“It was very up and down, holy smokes,” Clark said after he could be heard criticizing his play more than once on the telecast. “I hit some good shots; I hit some terrible shots. Yeah, I was a little frustrated with myself with some of the execution.”

Coming off a bogey at the previous hole, Clark hit the peak of his round at the par-5 16th. From the fairway, 275 yards from the pin, Clark struck a 3-wood that avoided a greenside bunker and settled 4 feet from the hole for eagle.

That boosted him from 6 under par to 8 under, and even after pushing his par putt at No. 18 past the cup, Clark made himself difficult to catch at 7-under 203.

“I feel like I’m trying to get more consistent. That’s something I’ve always wanted to be, and I think I’m trending in that direction,” Clark said. “Today was very volatile. Hopefully tomorrow it can be definitely a little more low-key, and hopefully I can play some boring golf.”

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will be Clark’s biggest threat after a back-nine rally got him back into the championship. He made four birdies on the back, including three in a row for the first time at a U.S. Open, and shot 69 to get to 1 under for the week.

Tied with Scheffler for second are Sahith Theegala (70), Sam Stevens (72) and South Korea’s Tom Kim (72).

Scheffler turns 30 on Sunday and would complete the career Grand Slam with a victory. He’ll tee off in the final pairing with Clark.

“We’ve been battling hard for a few days, and I did a good job of keeping myself in the tournament,” Scheffler said. “I’ll need a really nice round tomorrow if I’m going to try and catch Wyndham.”

Scheffler had one of only two sub-70 rounds on a day where the scoring average settled at 73.62, the highest of the week so far. Earlier Saturday, Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo shot a 3-under 67 featuring four straight birdies at Nos. 6-9, climbing to even for the championship.

Tied with Grillo at even are Keith Mitchell (70), Sam Burns (71) and Xander Schauffele (73).

Clark began the day with a four-shot lead but saw that cut in half in short order. Stevens birdied the first hole to reach 4 under, and Clark’s approach at No. 1 rolled down the false front of the green, leading to a three-putt bogey.

He got it back with a birdie at No. 5, then scrambled for pars at Nos. 6 and 7.

“The one on 7, I was into the grain, I didn’t hit the best of chips, but it looked like I hit it to 4 feet, which is normally good,” Clark explained. “But that putt was diabolical, and I could three-putt from there, it was so sloped. The fact I made that one was huge.”

At No. 8, Clark was heard on the broadcast apparently calling it the “worst shot of my life” when his approach bounced into a front-right bunker, leading to a bogey. He went birdie-bogey at Nos. 14-15 before the eagle gave him a massive boost.

Scheffler began his day bogey-bogey and parred his way through the rest of the front nine. His patience was rewarded with a straightforward birdie at No. 10 before the shot of the day, a chip-in birdie from 65 feet away at No. 15.

His approach, like many others throughout the round, rolled off the firm green and down a slope. Scheffler pitched his third shot at No. 15 on a tight line and gave an unusually emphatic fist pump and “Let’s go!” when it dropped.

“At that point I’m still over par for the tournament, staring at a pretty tough up-and-down,” he said later. “So to steal a shot there at least is a pretty good feeling.”

He followed that with 12-foot and 13-foot birdie putts to climb to 2 under before bogeying No. 17.

Theegala’s round of 70 featured exactly one bogey and one birdie, the latter coming at No. 18 when his approach sat down 12 inches from the cup.

“I think the first, I don’t know, 9 to 12 holes (on Sunday), I can’t even worry about what Wyndham is doing,” said Theegala, eyeing his first major. “It just requires so much mental energy to play each and every hole out there. …

“The goal is to put yourself in position come back nine on Sunday, and then that’s when you can start leaderboard watching and kind of see what the lead is at.”