Captain Jim Furyk on Why America Keeps Losing the Ryder Cup — and What He Is Going to Do About It

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.

Bud Cauley's First PGA Tour Win Is About a Lot More Than Golf

Bud Cauley Nearly Died in 2018. He Just Won His First PGA Tour Event. Head to cozyearth.com and use code WINGO for an exclusive 20% off. In the noise of US Open week, one story almost slipped through the cracks — and Trey and Justin refused to let that happen. Bud Cauley won his first PGA Tour title at the RBC Canadian Open over the weekend. A three-time All-American at Alabama who once ran in the same circles as Justin Thomas as a top professional prospect, Cauley spent the better part of a decade unable to break through at the highest level. And then in 2018, at the Memorial Tournament, he was involved in a near-fatal car accident — a collapsed lung among a list of severe injuries, with a recovery process that was anything but smooth. CBS's broadcast mentioned that Cauley had openly discussed with family and friends what he might do next if his playing career was simply over. He stuck with it. And on Sunday, he broke through. A Year of Comeback Stories This isn't an isolated moment in golf this season. Justin draws the direct comparison to Gary Woodland's emotional comeback win earlier this year following his own serious health battle. Between Woodland and Cauley, professional golf has delivered two of the most genuinely human stories of the year — moments that go far beyond shot-making and get into something much more meaningful. A Word for the Canadian Open Beyond Cauley's personal story, credit goes to the tournament itself. The Canadian Open has built a real identity — the popular "penalty box" short par-3 hole, Nick Taylor's iconic playoff win a few years back, and a history that includes one of the rarest feats in golf. Only Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods have ever completed the unofficial triple crown of winning the US Open, the Open Championship, and the Canadian Open in the same calendar year. It remains, in Trey's words, one of the most underrated events on tour — and this year it produced a champion and a story worthy of far more attention than it's gotten. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Who Wins the US Open at Shinnecock? Our Predictions.

Six Men Have Completed the Career Grand Slam. Scotty Scheffler Is Going for Seven. Head to cozyearth.com and use code WINGO for an exclusive 20% off. Jack Nicklaus. Gary Player. Gene Sarazen. Ben Hogan. Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy. Six men in the history of golf have won all four professional majors. Scotty Scheffler has the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the Open Championship. The US Open is the only piece missing — and that's strange on its face, because everything about Scotty's game, the iron play especially, seems built for exactly this tournament. Where Scotty's Game Actually Stands Scotty still leads the PGA Tour in greens in regulation, so the idea that his irons have abandoned him isn't accurate. But what was an untouchable superpower has become merely very good. He's dropped more than 100 spots in average proximity to the hole, and less than 22 percent of his fairway approach shots are landing inside 15 feet this season — 148th out of 152 players on tour. Despite that, he still leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained total, scoring average, and birdie average, and has become a legitimately good putter — a top-20 putter on tour, which would have been almost unthinkable a few years ago. The takeaway, in Brandel Chamblee's words — he's not unbeatable anymore, but he's still the man to beat. Since 2020, Scheffler is 129 under par in majors; the next closest player isn't within 50 shots of that mark. History suggests players who complete the grand slam tend to do it quickly — three of the six did it on their first attempt, including Tiger in 2000. Rory is the outlier, needing eleven tries. Phil Mickelson, Sam Snead, and Arnold Palmer all retired without ever completing theirs. Why Shinnecock Might Not Care About a Slow Start Scotty has had a pattern this season of struggling out of the gate in majors before grinding back into contention. But Shinnecock might neutralize that concern entirely. Brooks Koepka opened with a 75 in 2018 and still won. Dustin Johnson, the best player in the world that year, blew a four-shot 36-hole lead — the first player in nearly a century to do that at a US Open — and still wasn't out of contention afterward. This course is a marathon. Pars feel like birdies. Survival matters more than a hot start. One staggering number puts it all in context — of 654 players who have started a US Open at Shinnecock, only three have ever finished under par. The Picks — Without Scotty and Rory With the top two taken off the board as the presumed favorites, Trey and Justin each name three players who could make real noise this week. Justin's picks: John Rahm, whose LIV form has been dominant and translated directly into a tied-for-second finish at the PGA Championship, with an excellent US Open record and the best bogey-avoidance mark in the field since 2009. Xander Schauffele, the all-time leader in US Open scoring average with nine consecutive top-15 finishes — a streak only Jack Nicklaus has topped since World War II. And Chris Gotterup, a two-time winner this season whose power off the tee fits a US Open landscape that increasingly rewards distance. Trey's picks: Xander Schauffele for the same reasons. Matt Fitzpatrick, who has three wins this season and already has a US Open title on an old-school, brutal course — Brookline in 2022, where he also won his US Amateur. And Cam Young, the Long Island native who broke through with his first PGA Tour win last year and was a standout for Team USA at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage. And one fun, purely historical nugget — the last three US Opens at Shinnecock were each won by the player ranked ninth in the world at the time. This week's ninth-ranked player in the world is reigning US Open champion JJ Spaun. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.