SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Wyndham Clark keeps leaving his mark on Shinnecock Hills, completing the lowest first round in a U.S. Open on this course Friday morning and setting a 36-hole standard in the early afternoon to build a four-shot lead over the early starters.
With so much chaos around him, Clark played a steady hand — a far cry from where he was at the U.S. Open last year when he missed the cut and smashed up a locker at storied Oakmont.
His
last act was a 35-foot putt down the slope on the 18th green that dropped for a 1-under 69. That put him at 7-under 133, one shot better than Phil Mickelson and Shigeki Maruyama at the halfway point in 2004 at Shinnecock Hills.
And he thinks he could be better.
“I really felt like I could be in double digits (under par),” Clark said. “But you know, the great thing about that is I didn’t feel like I had my best, and I still am leading as of right now. Hopefully, I can bring my A-game on the weekend.”
Xander Schauffele, with the best U.S. Open record of anyone without a U.S. Open title over the last 10 years, had a 66 to finish at 137 along with Matt Fitzpatrick, a former U.S. Open champion who birdied two of his last three holes to salvage a 70.
The most remarkable day belonged to Joaquin Niemann. He made a 9 on No. 6 — his 15th and final hole of the fog-delayed first round that was halted by darkness — only for it to become an 11 when the USGA penalized two shots for bad behavior.
Niemann hit two drives that were lost, chopped his way up the fairway and finally lost it by heaving his club. The majors are cracking down on behavior this year — the Masters was the first to use the policy this year — and the USGA deemed it serious enough to skip the warning and go straight to the harsh two-shot penalty.
Niemann headed out for his second round, made five birdies in six holes and shot 65 to easily get inside the cut line. It was the first time in 97 years at the U.S. Open someone made 10 or worse in a U.S. Open and still make the cut.
“All the frustration that came inside me and had my club in my hand, and I couldn’t resist to throw it away,” Niemann said. “There was no people, obviously. No one there. I’m not proud of it, but yeah, sometimes all the expectation of trying to play well and things doesn’t go your way, you get frustrated. And that was me there.”
Dustin Johnson managed to keep his head during a meltdown on the back nine. Johnson, in his final year of U.S. Open exemptions from winning at Oakmont in 2016, was one shot behind Clark as they headed to the tee at the par-3 11th. He was 11 shots behind when they reached the 16th.
Johnson went from one bunker to the next for a double bogey on the 11th. And then on the 15th, he went from the front right bunker to the front left bunker, left it in that bunker, blasted it over the green, chipped on and took two putts for a quadruple-bogey 8.
He attributed it to rocks in the sand. But he made birdie on the 16th and was likely to make the cut.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy took their turns in the afternoon. The wind wasn't as strong as Thursday, and while the course was still relatively soft by U.S. Open standards — greens were being sprayed in the early morning — the sun was out and the afternoon figured to be a strong test.
It was a long day for Clark and the other finishers because they had to return at 6:35 a.m. to resume the first round — 10 hours after they walked off the course.
Clark finished with two pars for a 64, the lowest start ever for a U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and had a two-shot lead. He doubled that, and then waited to see if anyone could make a run at him.
He was on a heater coming into Shinnecock Hills, winning The CJ Cup Byron Nelson with a 60 in the final round, contending in the Memorial and the Canadian Open the last two weeks. Frustration peaked a year ago at Oakmont and in the months that followed. Now, he appears to be more comfortable with each day.
Schauffele has seven top 10s in his nine U.S. Open appearances, a Californian who keeps his cool even amid a tough test.
“It’s a brutal week,” Schauffele said. “Everyone watching at home wants to see guys shooting in the 80s and doing crazy things. I get it. You know, it’s once a year you get to see some carnage, and it’s at a U.S. Open. Try to embrace it as much as you can.”
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