Justin Leonard Breaks Down the US Open at Shinnecock — The Course, the Contenders, and Scottie's Chase for History

Wyndham Clark Is a Two-Time US Open Champion. It Is Time to Change How We Look at Him.

Wyndham Clark Won the US Open With the Entire Gallery Rooting Against Him. Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/WINGO #squarepod #sponsored Head to cozyearth.com and use code WINGO for an exclusive 20% off. The 126th US Open at Shinnecock Hills is over. And Wyndham Clark is a two-time US Open champion. He came in with a six-stroke lead. The entire crowd was rooting against him. The number one player in the world was in his final group trying to complete the career grand slam on his 30th birthday. And Wyndham Clark won anyway. Here is the full story. How It Played Out Clark started Sunday the way nobody wanted — going out in a three-over 38 on the front nine, suddenly making this interesting in a way the six-stroke lead suggested it would not be. But then the back nine happened. He birdied 16 with a remarkable putt from 30 feet after driving it left and finding a way to put his approach on the back of the green. That birdie pushed his lead back to two. He gave one back with a bogey on 17 that let Sam Burns pull within one — the most drama of the entire final round. Then on 18, from 52 feet, Wyndham Clark two-putted to close it out. Not unlike 2023 at LACC, where he was about 60 feet away and two-putted to win then too. Big moments, big putts, big composure. The Historical Context Since the first Masters in 1934, 14 players have led a major by six or more strokes heading into the final round. Thirteen of the previous 13 won. The only exception was Greg Norman's epic collapse at the 1996 Masters, when Nick Faldo — the world number one at the time — ran him down. Scotty Scheffler is the world number one right now. The parallel was not lost on anyone. Clark also had a multi-stroke lead after all three of the first rounds — a club that includes Willie Anderson in 1903, Jim Barnes in 1921, Tony Jacklin in 1970, Rory McIlroy in 2011, and Martin Kaymer in 2014. All of them won. Now so does Wyndham Clark. And one more stat courtesy of Justin Ray — the greatest golf researcher in the sport — Wyndham Clark is now one of only three men to win US Opens on both the East Coast and the West Coast. Billy Casper. Tiger Woods. Wyndham Clark. How Do We Look at Wyndham Clark Now This is the real question Trey is asking throughout the video. Clark is not a player who consistently contends at majors. He either wins or he is a non-factor. There is almost no middle ground. And yet he has now won two of the toughest tests in golf — both US Opens — in the last four years, at two of the most demanding venues on the US Open rotation. He has as many majors as Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Xander Schauffele. And he won Sunday with a hostile gallery, a charging world number one, and a golf course that was fighting back after the USGA tightened the screws over the weekend. That putter has been historically hot since the CJ Byron Nelson, where he shot an 11-under 60 on Sunday to beat Scotty Scheffler and Si Woo Kim. If that putter stays this white hot — and there is no reason yet to think it will not — Wyndham Clark is going to be very difficult to beat for a long time. And the question of whether we have seen the best of him is genuinely open. The Locker Room Question A year ago at Oakmont, Wyndham Clark destroyed a locker after a bad round. He was photographed. He was banned from Oakmont. He went on an apology tour. He addressed it at the Byron Nelson and again multiple times this week. Some people forgave him. Some did not. But it is hard to argue that a two-time US Open champion who wins on a course where the entire crowd is against him, in the toughest test in golf, under maximum pressure — it is hard to argue that the locker room moment should define him. It should not. He earned the right to be referred to as a two-time US Open champion. That is what he is. The Father's Day Moment One of the most emotional storylines of the entire week had nothing to do with birdies or bogeys. Wyndham Clark's mother passed away from breast cancer when he was in college. His father showed up at Shinnecock on Sunday and did not tell Wyndham he was there. Wyndham had no idea. When he sank the winning putt on 18 and turned around and saw his dad — on Father's Day — the reaction was everything. Scottie Scheffler Today was Scottie Scheffler's 30th birthday. The gallery serenaded him walking up 18. He was in the final group. He was trying to become the seventh man to complete the career grand slam on his first attempt — something three of the six previous grand slam completers did. He made some birdies. He could not make the putts that mattered most. It is not a disaster. His game is marginally off from where it was a year ago when he won two majors. Statistically almost identical. Just a fraction short in the moments that count. He is still the world number one. He will still retain that ranking after finishing inside the top five today. He has the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale next month, where he will defend his title and have another shot at a win. But he has now gone 12 straight tournaments without a win — by far the longest drought of his career since he became a major champion. And the grand slam will have to wait. The Other Stories Sam Burns came within one with a birdie on 16 before missing looks at birdie on 17 and 18. For the second straight year, Sam Burns has put himself in position to win a US Open and come up just short. He is built for this. He will be back. Xander Schauffele finished tied for 11th — his 10th consecutive top-15 finish at a US Open. The only longer streak in US Open history is Jack Nicklaus. He has won a PGA Championship and an Open Championship. The US Open feels inevitable for him. Miles Russell, the 17-year-old who qualified with Charlie Woods on his bag, walked up 18 on Father's Day with his own dad carrying his bag — a surprise he arranged mid-round after asking the USGA if it was allowed. They said yes. His dad had no idea. That is the kind of moment that makes the US Open what it is. Keith Mitchell shot 70-70-70-70 — the first player in US Open history to shoot four straight rounds of level par. One of those 70s included a 41 on the front and a 29 on the back. Also a US Open first. Perfectly consistent on the scorecard. Absolutely chaotic in reality. And the fans — some of them crossed a line. People were shouting at Wyndham Clark, openly rooting for him to miss, and a few got kicked out. The point Trey makes is simple — root for whoever you want, but do not be that person. The players are under enough pressure without someone screaming at them to choke. It is not a good look. Do not be that guy. The Bottom Line Wyndham Clark is a two-time US Open champion. He won at one of the most demanding venues in the sport, with the crowd against him, the world number one in his group, and a golf course that was fighting back. The putter was white hot when it needed to be. The composure held when it mattered most. How we look at Wyndham Clark going forward has to change. Because if that putter stays this hot, we may not have seen the best of him yet. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Scottie Scheffler Played His Way Into Contention on Saturday. Can He Chase Down Wyndham Clark on Sunday?

Wyndham Clark Leads the US Open by Six. Only One Person Is Hunting Him Down. Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/WINGO #squarepod #sponsored Head to cozyearth.com and use code WINGO for an exclusive 20% off. Going into Sunday’s final round at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, one thing is clear. Wyndham Clark is in control. Six strokes. One round left. And the most dominant stretch of putting anyone has seen on the PGA Tour in years still very much intact. But Scottie Scheffler gave us exactly what we needed on Saturday. And Sunday just got a lot more interesting. The Wyndham Clark Situation Let’s start with the numbers because they are staggering. Wyndham Clark is seven under par — the best 36-hole score ever recorded at a US Open at Shinnecock. He maintained that lead through a Saturday where the USGA tightened the screws significantly, averaging about a shot and a half higher scoring than Friday. Clark birdied 16 with a ridiculous second shot from 273 yards to make eagle, then bogeyed 18 to finish even par on the day. He heads into Sunday with a six-stroke lead. Here is the historical context. Since the first Masters in 1934, there have been 13 previous instances of players leading a major by six or more strokes heading into the final round. Twelve of them won. The only one who didn’t was Greg Norman, who held a six-stroke lead at the 1996 Masters and lost to Nick Faldo. And the symbolism runs even deeper — Norman lost to the world number one player at the time. The world number one heading into Sunday’s final round at Shinnecock is Scottie Scheffler. Every other historical marker points to a Wyndham Clark victory lap. Players to lead the US Open by multiple strokes after rounds one, two, and three: Willie Anderson in 1903 — won. Jim Barnes in 1921 — won. Tony Jacklin in 1970 — won. Rory McIlroy in 2011 — won. Martin Kaymer in 2014 — won. Wyndham Clark in 2026 is in that company. The largest final-round comeback in US Open history is seven strokes — Arnold Palmer chasing down Ben Hogan at Cherry Hills in 1960. That is the only data point that keeps Sunday from being a formality. The Bi-Coastal Club One more thing worth noting about what Wyndham Clark is trying to accomplish, courtesy of Justin Ray — who Trey calls the greatest golf researcher in the history of the sport for good reason. If Clark wins Sunday, he joins Billy Casper and Tiger Woods as the only men to win US Opens on both the East Coast and the West Coast. Casper won at Olympic Club and Winged Foot. Tiger won at Pebble Beach and Bethpage Black and Torrey Pines. Clark won at LACC in 2023. Shinnecock is the East Coast. The bi-coastal US Open champion club has exactly two members right now. Here Comes Scottie Now for the reason Sunday is worth watching. Scottie Scheffler has been quietly grinding all week without the iron play that has defined his best golf. But on Saturday, something clicked. His strokes gained approach by round this week tells the story — 103rd in round one, 29th in round two, first in round three. He was the best approach player in the entire field on Saturday. He birdied three straight holes on the back nine — the longest birdie run he has ever had at a US Open. He chipped in from off the green on 14, and the reaction — from him, from the crowd, from everyone watching — was electric. It was the most emotion we have seen from Scottie Scheffler in weeks. Only two players shot under par on Saturday. Emiliano Grillo with a 67 and Scottie Scheffler with a 69. Wyndham Clark shot even par 70. Scottie played himself into the final group on Sunday, which matters more than it might seem — 23 of the last 30 major winners on the men’s side have come out of the final group. This is also Scottie’s first attempt to complete the career grand slam. Of the six men who have done it — Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy — three did it on their first try. Two took three attempts. Rory, the famous outlier, needed 11. The history says if you are going to do this, you tend to do it sooner rather than later. The Rest of the Field Matt Fitzpatrick faded down the stretch on Saturday. Xander Schauffele, whose US Open record is historically remarkable, could not get under par. Colin Morikawa made a brief charge before stumbling. And then there is Sam Stevens — who has made over ten and a half million dollars on the PGA Tour, which Trey acknowledges he was not aware of before this week — hanging around in the mix. But the honest truth is this is Wyndham Clark, Scottie Scheffler, and the golf course on Sunday. What We Need Trey makes the point directly — if Wyndham Clark goes wire to wire without being challenged, this is a Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst moment. A comfortable drive down the Autobahn. The US Open deserves more than that. Shinnecock deserves more than that. What we need is a charge. What we need is a chip-in, a putt that drops, a moment where the six-stroke lead suddenly feels fragile. Arnold Palmer did it to Ben Hogan in 1960. Johnny Miller did it at Oakmont in 1973. The US Open has a history of producing those moments when the course is right and the right player catches fire. The course is right. And Scottie Scheffler just reminded everyone on Saturday that he might be that player. Sunday at Shinnecock. Father’s Day. Six strokes. One round. One grand slam on the line. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wyndham Clark Is Running Away With the US Open at Shinnecock — Day Two Recap

Wyndham Clark Is Running Away With the US Open at Shinnecock — Day Two Recap Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/WINGO #squarepod #sponsored Head to cozyearth.com and use code WINGO for an exclusive 20% off. Through two rounds at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, one man is separating himself from the field in a way nobody saw coming. Wyndham Clark is seven under par — the best 36-hole score ever recorded at a US Open at Shinnecock Hills. The previous best was six under, shared by Shingo Mariyama and Phil Mickelson in 2004. Neither of them won that week. Retief Goosen did. That history matters. Because Shinnecock has a way of finding you over the weekend. Wyndham Clark Is on Another Level The numbers from Wyndham Clark's last four tournaments before this week are almost impossible to believe. A scoring average of 66.6. Fifty-nine under par. Birdie or better on 31 percent of holes played. And the best strokes gained putting average on the PGA Tour since the Masters — by a wide margin. He stormed back at the CJ Byron Nelson with an 11-under 60 in the final round to win, beating Scotty Scheffler in the process, and then added a third place and an 11th place in his next two starts before arriving at Shinnecock on the hottest putting streak in professional golf. His four-stroke lead heading into the weekend is significant in one direction and slightly fragile in another. Twenty-eight of the last 30 US Open champions were within three strokes of the lead after 36 holes. Nobody is currently within three strokes of Wyndham Clark. The one exception in recent memory — Brooks Koepka in 2018, starting five over and winning at Shinnecock. And the last time someone held a four-stroke 36-hole lead at Shinnecock, it was Dustin Johnson in 2018, who promptly shot 77 on Saturday and lost. So the lead is real. And Shinnecock is real. Both things are true at the same time. The Redemption Arc What makes Wyndham Clark's position even more compelling is the context surrounding it. A year ago at Oakmont, Clark destroyed a locker after a bad round — was photographed doing it, and was subsequently banned from Oakmont. It was a moment that defined his public perception for the worst possible reasons. Since then, he has openly acknowledged it, apologized in his victory speech at the Byron Nelson, and talked about trying to win back fans who wrote him off after that incident. Now he is standing at seven under par at Shinnecock, four strokes clear of the field, holding the best 36-hole score in US Open history at this venue. If Wyndham Clark wins this weekend, the locker room story becomes a footnote. Two US Open wins in four years changes how everyone looks at him as a player and as a person. The Chasers Right behind Clark at three under par sits Xander Schauffele. This is his 10th US Open. In the previous nine he has never finished outside the top 15 — a streak only Jack Nicklaus has exceeded in the history of this championship. On Friday alone, Schauffele hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation. It was the 13th time he has hit 16 or more greens in a single major championship round since 2020. The next closest player in that category since 2019 is Jon Rahm — with six. Schauffele has more than doubled that total. Matt Fitzpatrick is also right there at three under — one of Trey's pre-tournament picks alongside Xander Schauffele. Three wins already this season, a US Open title at Brookline in 2022, and a track record of playing his best on old-school classic golf courses. Shinnecock fits that profile perfectly and Fitzpatrick has positioned himself exactly where he needs to be heading into the weekend. Colin Morikawa sits alone at two under. A two-time major champion who won the PGA Championship in 2020 and the Open Championship in 2021, Morikawa is one of the finest iron players in the game — a skill set that maps perfectly onto Shinnecock's demands. He is quietly right in this tournament. Rory McIlroy had a bizarre back nine on Friday — three straight bogeys, a couple of birdies, then a double to limp in. He is still in contention, still capable of making a charge over the weekend. And should Rory find a way to win, it would be his seventh major championship — tying Harry Vardon's all-time record for most majors won by a European player. It would also put him three-quarters of the way to completing a second career grand slam, having already won back-to-back Masters titles in 2025 and 2026. Scotty Scheffler sits at even par — not the position he wanted, but not a fatal one at this course on this weekend. This is his first opportunity to become the seventh man to complete the career grand slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy. Of the previous six, three completed it on their first attempt. Two took three tries. Rory took 11. Scotty is still in it — but he is going to need to find something over the weekend that has been missing from his game for much of this season. The LIV Report Card And then there is the story that the thumbnail tells directly. Every LIV Golf player missed the cut at the 2026 US Open. Every single one. Jon Rahm — destroyer of worlds, 2021 US Open champion at Torrey Pines, 2023 Masters champion — played a brilliant first round and then fell apart with a six-over second round to miss the cut. The competitive fire that showed up at the PGA Championship at Aronimink, the glimpses of the old Rahm, all of it disappeared on Friday. Cameron Smith, the 2022 Open Champion, was never a factor. And then there is Bryson DeChambeau. Bryson has now missed the cut in all three majors this year. It is the first time in his career that has happened across three straight majors. For a two-time US Open champion — 2020 at Winged Foot and 2024 at Pinehurst with that incredible bunker shot on 18 to beat Rory by a stroke — this is a stunning stretch of results at the biggest events of the year. The timing could not be worse for LIV Golf. Scott O'Neill is out trying to raise money and attract investors to a league whose two marquee stars — Rahm and Bryson — just missed the cut at the US Open. And the news coming out simultaneously is that PIF, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, may be shifting from investment to loan structure for their continued LIV funding, which means they want their money back. When your calling cards are struggling this visibly on the biggest stage in golf, that is a very difficult pitch to make. The Harry Higgs Story One more story worth celebrating before the weekend begins. Harry Higgs — cult hero, shirt-ripper at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, beloved by everyone who follows this sport — entered this week having made zero cuts and earned zero dollars in six PGA Tour starts this season. He had lost his tour status, gone back to the Corn Ferry Tour to fight his way back, and arrived at Shinnecock as one of the biggest long shots in the field. He made the cut. He is playing the weekend at the US Open. Whatever happens from here, that alone is worth rooting for. What to Watch This Weekend Can Wyndham Clark hold off a golf course that has swallowed four-stroke leaders before? Will Xander Schauffele finally win the one major his game was built for? Can Fitzpatrick add a second US Open title? Does Rory make a charge toward history? Can Scotty find the gear he needs to join six legends? And will Harry Higgs somehow make this weekend even more memorable? Shinnecock is about to bare its teeth. The weekend starts now. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

USA Beats Australia 2-0 — The US World Cup Run Is Real

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Tiger Woods Is Back in the States. What Is the Realistic Timeline From Here? | GOLF LIVE Mailbag

When Does Tiger Woods Actually Return? Plus Your Best US Open Questions Head to cozyearth.com and use code WINGO for an exclusive 20% off. Katrina is back with seven of your best questions heading into Shinnecock, and Trey and Justin Ray get into all of them. The Biggest X-Factor at Shinnecock Wind, greens, or fescue? Justin's answer is all three together, but if forced to choose, he leans toward wind given the exposed nature of the course and a forecast that could shift quickly between the morning and afternoon waves. Trey agrees it's the full cocktail — sand-based soil means Thursday's rain won't soften anything, and once the wind picks up, the greens will only get faster. Adam Scott's Streak Adam Scott is playing his 100th consecutive major championship. To catch Jack Nicklaus's all-time record of 146 consecutive major starts, Scott would need to play every single major until the 2039 Masters. It's not happening — but reaching 100 alongside Nicklaus on that particular list is remarkable on its own. Bryson's New Driver Bryson DeChambeau is rolling out a prototype TaylorMade driver built specifically for the US Open. Trey calls it on-brand but not particularly wise — "Bryson being Bryson," for better or worse. Justin offers the counterpoint — Bryson already missed the cut in both of this year's first two majors, his first back-to-back missed major cuts since 2017, so some experimentation may be justified. He also notes that equipment tinkering happens across the entire field every week — Bryson just gets more attention for it. The Rory vs Rolapp Schedule Debate Rory McIlroy has criticized incoming PGA Tour commissioner Brian Rolapp's two-track schedule model, warning it risks turning some events into "glorified Korn Ferry events." Trey's read is that this is a deliberate feeder system, pointing to Aaron Rai's win at a smaller event before his PGA Championship breakthrough as proof the model can still produce major champions. Justin agrees Rory isn't wrong, just blunt, and calls the tradeoff simply the cost of doing business if the tour wants more star-studded marquee events. And when both Rory and Jack Nicklaus — two men who rarely agree on tour politics — push back on the same changes, does that mean something? Trey sees it as two very different generational perspectives reaching a similar conclusion. Justin's framing is simpler — seismic change always produces strong opinions from powerful people with a real stake in the outcome. That's expected, not necessarily a red flag. Tiger's Timeline Tiger Woods is back in the US following rehab. Both Trey and Justin decline to speculate on a competitive return timeline, and for good reason — right now, the only thing that matters is Tiger's health and wellbeing as a person. The golf can wait. Farah O'Keefe's Perfect Curtis Cup Farah O'Keefe went a perfect 5-0 at the Curtis Cup — only the fourth player in the event's history, dating back to 1932, to accomplish that. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis came close to the feat herself nearly two decades ago. It caps an extraordinary year for O'Keefe, who also contended deep into the weekend at the Chevron Championship and performed well at the NCAA Championships. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.