Wyndham Clark’s 69 wasn’t the best round of the day on Friday, but he is the only golfer to score in the 60s in each of the first two rounds of the U.S. Open and he holds a four-shot lead over Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tom Kim, and Sam Stevens as we make the turn into the weekend. Collin Morikawa’s 65 was the low round of the day (alongside Joaquin Nieman, who is T-46) and good enough to propel him into solo sixth place after firing a 3-over 73 on Thursday.
While the weather conditions were more docile over the second 18, scoring was still tough to come by. Schauffele’s 66 was the second-best round of the day and a strong follow-up to shooting 1-over on Thursday, as he looks to be the biggest threat to Clark, as Fitzpatrick is also T-2, but he was the only player who is under par for the tournament to not shoot under par on Friday.
Even though Clark leads by 5, Saturday is usually moving day and there are some big names with a chance to move, especially with the winds expected to fire off in the late morning and early afternoon on Saturday.
U.S. Open third-round tee times
VSiN’s golf experts offered their second-round observations and third-round predictions . . .
Wes Reynolds
2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark is pacing the field at Shinnecock Hills with a four-stroke lead at -7. Clark, who might be known more for his trashing of a locker room at Oakmont last year than for his actual U.S. Open victory three years ago at Los Angeles Country Club, did not have a finish better than T-16 all season until four weeks ago when he won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Since then, he was 3rd at The Memorial and T-11 at the RBC Canadian Open over the last two weeks, so he has clearly found something.
Clark’s four-shot lead is the largest 36-hole lead at the U.S. Open since Dustin Johnson led by four right here at Shinnecock Hills in 2018 (finished 3rd). He is also looking to become the first wire-to-wire U.S. Open victor since Martin Kaymer did it at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014.
There is no shortage of capable challengers with major champions Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele (both at -3), plus Collin Morikawa (-2) and Justin Thomas (-1) on the first page of the leaderboard.
The two shortest prices on the odds board heading into this week – World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and World No. 2 Rory McIlroy – are both Even par.
These big names missed the +4 cut and are not playing the weekend: Bryson DeChambeau +5, Viktor Hovland +5, Patrick Reed +5, Shane Lowry +6, Si Woo Kim +6, Adam Scott +8, Jon Rahm +8, J.J. Spaun +8, and Brooks Koepka +10.
Over the weekend, the forecast still calls for some relatively high winds, but the USGA is known to doctor up the setup, so this championship is far from over even if the greens have been way softer than expected.
My only two pre-tournament outright bets still in the hunt include Fitzpatrick and Sam Burns (-1), who gave two away late on the back nine after a -4 start to his round through 12 holes.
Fitzpatrick is one of just two players in the top 20 losing strokes off the tee, which is a little surprising considering that he is top 10 on the PGA TOUR for Total Driving. I still like where he sits here, and he is currently at a market-high price of +750 on FanDuel.
FanDuel also has a 12/1 on Scheffler. I am choosing to monitor him to see his Saturday start. He turns 30 on Sunday, and it would certainly be a hell of a story for Scottie to win the Career Grand Slam on his birthday.
McIlroy is 20/1 at FanDuel, but he has struggled around the greens both days and his irons and wedges were not as sharp in Round 2.
Sam Burns (27/1; FanDuel) and Justin Thomas (30/1; Caesars) might be worth looks if you believe someone can come back from off the pace.
I will have a couple of Round 3 matchups up overnight at VSiN.com/picks.
Matt Youmans
If Wyndham Clark fails to close the deal this weekend, the players most likely to catch him from behind are Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick. I’ll put a bet on Schauffele at +650 going to the weekend. He’s a two-time major winner who has an impressive track record of contending in U.S. Opens. I mentioned in this column he was worth a look after the first round when DraftKings posted his adjusted odds at 43-1 and Circa Sports offered 48-1. Fitzpatrick was among my pre-tournament futures plays at 20-1.
Clark, who won this major at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023, looks like a confident player who can close. He’s working with a sports psychologist and switched to a new putter this year, and his putting stats have been outstanding in recent weeks. He drained a downhill, winding 25-foot putt on the 18th green Friday. I don’t think he’s going to blow it this weekend, and I wouldn’t argue with anyone who’s taking his +190 price tonight.
