Wyndham Clark took command of the U.S. Open on Saturday, building a six-shot lead after the third round at Shinnecock Hills and putting himself one round from a second title. He signed for an even-par 70 while Scottie Scheffler, with a one-under 69, became his closest pursuer.
The cushion mattered because Clark had entered the weekend at seven under par after setting the 36-hole scoring record for a U.S. Open at Shinnecock. His four-shot lead after 36 holes narrowed immediately when Sam Stevens birdied the opening hole and Clark bogeyed it, turning that advantage into two shots before Clark settled in and pulled away again.
Saturday was not kind to scoring. Winds approached 40mph across the course, and only five of the 10 players who began the day under par stayed there. Clark answered the conditions with birdies and saves, including three par rescues from 5ft and others from 6, 7 and 14ft. He also birdied the par-five fifth and holed a towering 275-yard approach at the par-five 16th to set up the first eagle of the week at that hole.
Rory McIlroy was the only player who briefly looked capable of forcing the issue. He ran off three straight birdies starting at the fifth, holed a 66ft putt from off the sixth green and got to two under par before his round unraveled. A 49-yard approach at the 10th spun through the green for bogey, then came a three-putt at the 12th and more mistakes at the 14th, 15th and 18th holes for a three-over 73. Scheffler had his own bursts, opening with back-to-back bogeys before birdieing the 10th and then three in a row from the 14th, aided by a 65ft chip from off the green.
Clark, 32, said after his round that this is the kind of putting needed to win U.S. Opens, where chances are scarce and five- to 12-foot putts decide the week. He won the 2023 U.S. Open and now goes into Sunday needing only to protect a lead that already matches the pressure of the course itself. With the final round to be played in the same wind and firmness roughly 80 miles east of Manhattan, the only real question is whether anyone can force Clark to do much more than stay steady.
