SOUTHAMPTON, New York — The first day of the U.S. Open was defined by wind in the morning, and then by Wyndham Clark in the evening.
Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champion on a hot streak the last month, has a four-shot lead at 6 under through 16 holes of his first round, which was halted due to darkness at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
“Everything was kind of clicking,” said Clark, whose highlight was an eagle on the par-5 fifth after knocking his approach to three feet from the hole. “We were definitely fortunate with the wind laying down. Overall a good round.”
Clark could post one of the lowest U.S. Open rounds in Shinnecock history — Tommy Fleetwood’s record 7-under 63 from 2018 is in range. The last man to lead a U.S. Open by four or more shots after the first round was Tommy Armour in 1933.
In the last month, Clark won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson with a final round 60, then was third at Memorial and tied for 11th at the RBC Canadian Open last week. Before that, his world ranking had dropped to 75 with his last top-10 in a full-field event at last July’s Open Championship.
A fog delay from 7:05-9:05 a.m. pushed play back, which ended up benefiting the late starters as winds eased in the gloaming.
Forecasted winds above 20 miles per hour, with higher gusts, had more of an impact on the morning wave that included Rory McIlroy (1 under) and Scottie Scheffler (2 over).
The winds were such a concern that the greens were set up to be their slowest at a U.S. Open since 1995 (when Shinnecock also hosted).
“It got a bit docile this afternoon,” John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s Chief Championships Officer, said on Golf Channel.
Shinnecock’s greens were criticized the last two years it hosted in 2004 and 2018. It was at times difficult to keep balls from rolling off them, they had become so baked out.
Jon Rahm, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, is in a group of seven men tied for second at 2 under (six of those seven from the afternoon with the more benign conditions).
Rahm is through 13 holes and the only player in the field of 156 with a chance to end a streak of six consecutive U.S. Open rounds at Shinnecock without any bogey-free cards.
Also at 2 under are fellow U.S. Open champions Dustin Johnson (2016), Gary Woodland (2019) and Matt Fitzpatrick (2022).
U.S. Open coverage continues Friday at 6:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN and Peacock, with later coverage starting at 1:30 p.m. on NBC and Peacock.
Rory McIlroy in early U.S. Open contention
McIlroy had the solo lead for about an hour in the early afternoon before bogeys on his last two holes. He tied for the second-lowest round of the morning wave.
“It was obviously a really tricky day and just a day to stay patient and hang in there,” he said. “I hit enough good shots to give myself some chances. I think anything in red figures today was a good effort.”
McIlroy is bidding to go a record 15 years between U.S. Open wins. He went wire-to-wire in 2011 at Congressional at age 22, his first of six majors.
McIlroy, who achieved the career Grand Slam in 2025, wants to win a U.S. Open at one of the traditional venues (Shinnecock is hosting for a sixth time) and can also tie the record for most majors won by a European man (England’s Harry Vardon won seven more than 100 years ago).
Scottie Scheffler has ‘challenging’ round
The world No. 1 Scheffler’s first try to complete the career Grand Slam got off to what he called a “challenging” start.
He shot a 2-over 72 with four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey. Scheffler hit just half the greens en route to his 10th consecutive U.S. Open round not breaking par.
“Overall, yeah, it was a really challenging day,” he said. “If you told me when I was staring at my par putt on nine (when I was 3 over) that I would post 2 over today, I would definitely have taken it at the time. Overall it was a good battle. Get some rest, and we’ll see how the course changes over the next day.”
Scheffler won the Masters in 2022 and 2024, then the PGA Championship and the Open Championship in 2025 to set up his first bid to complete the Slam at Shinnecock this week.
