SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- Isn't it funny how history repeats itself? Eight years after Dustin Johnson entered the weekend at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills with a four-stroke lead, another former champion will look to convert the same advantage at the same golf course in the same championship.
Wyndham Clark hopes for a different fate.
Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, has blitzed this field (and this golf course) across 36 holes, setting a scoring record for a U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills with his tally of 7 under. One hand may be reaching for the trophy, but it is best to resist temptation as zero prior 36-hole leaders at Shinnecock Hills proved to be the eventual leader after 72 holes.
It's one part pressure and one part golf course as Shinnecock Hills has yet to bite back like players know it can. The United States Golf Association has expressed caution all week, and even with some poorly forecasted winds, the lever has not been pulled to the fullest extent.
"I truly believe if the USGA wanted to have some fun and with the wind coming through and firm up the greens," Xander Schauffele said. "I mean, over-par will win this golf tournament again, sitting at whatever all these guys under par. I do believe this course can be that way."
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Syringing has been the word of the week up this point, and while humidity may keep moisture in the greens the rest of the way, the USGA still has setup options to give players fits. The plan has always been to build this golf course up as the championship progresses -- a crescendo of sorts you could say -- and the weekend should put that on full display.
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"I think Brooks [Koepka] was pretty far back going into the weekend in 2018," Rory McIlroy said. "So, yeah, if there's a course where you feel like you still have a chance if you're seven back going into the weekend like I am, it's definitely this one."
Let's get into whether or not those off the pace will be able to make up the difference over these next 36 holes and identify the contenders and pretenders this weekend at Shinnecock Hills.
Contenders vs. Pretenders
T2. Xander Schauffele (-3)
The guy is a cockroach in the best way imaginable. When it hits the fan (which it may this weekend), Schauffele has an uncanny ability to emerge unscathed, crawl around and stay alive. He struck the ball beautifully on Friday hitting 16 of 18 greens in regulation, and if that carries into the rest of his championship, he has a fantastic opportunity to snag the third leg of the career grand slam.
Verdict: Contender
T2. Matt Fitzpatrick (-3)
The Englishman has the most wins on the PGA Tour this season and seems to have not played his best golf yet this week. That is dangerous. Fitzpatrick is humming in most aspects of his game, and should the driver start to cooperate a hair more (ranks outside the top 110 in strokes gained off the tee to this point), he will have the full bag in control. While that is in question, what isn't is Fitzpatrick's mettle. His mindset was built for the U.S. Open.
"I think being comfortable in the moment is the big thing," Fitzpatrick said. "I know I'm four behind, but might be one of the last few groups tomorrow. I feel like, A, I've obviously been in that situation before, and B, having the game to match. You know, I feel like maybe 2017 if I had managed to find myself in a position like that, I probably wasn't ready. I didn't hit it far enough or didn't hit my irons well enough, whatever it may be. 2022 with the way I was playing, I felt very comfortable to be in that position, and obviously the same today."
Verdict: Contender
T2. Tom Kim (-3)
Very quietly finished inside the top 10 at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club but hasn't done much else in this championship. Sprinted up the leaderboard late on Friday amid some difficult conditions, but this Kim is not the Kim that came out of the PGA Tour gates blazing en route to securing records alongside titans of the game. The iron play has been better in 2026, but he is doing the job so far in spite of it.
Verdict: Pretender
T2. Sam Stevens (-3)
Thought it was a really impressive second round, more than just the score of 1 under. Having to sleep with your name on the first page of the leaderboard knowing that your recent play has not been your best and producing a round that keeps you well in this tournament is ballsy stuff. He's 2 under on the par 3s thus far, which is tough to do, but with so much cream around him, Stevens doesn't seem like the name that will rise to the top.
Verdict: Pretender
6. Collin Morikawa (-2)
Changed wedges after switching to a different bounce on Monday, and it proved to be a fruitful decision. Morikawa is the second-best ball striker among this list even without his full arsenal at his disposal. The question is whether that catches up to him over the weekend. Couple that with the old adage of it being difficult to follow up a low round with another -- Morikawa fired a second-round 65 tying Joaquin Niemann for low honors on Friday -- and questions start to form, but I think he has the answers.
"It's still a little uncomfortable," Morikawa said. "I'm hitting it a lot better. Last week was huge for me. I felt like I made progress after that. I mean, took a little bit of time off with the baby. You know, I can't hit every shot that I want to hit. Usually my go-to shot with right-to-left wind with an iron would be to cut something up, know how it's going to spin, and just play that shot. I can't quite cut it as much as I want.
"Thankfully the greens are soft enough right now where I don't have to hit the high spinner, but I'm able to hit enough shots. I think I proved it to myself today that I have enough tools to go out and play well. Thankfully I'm moving a little bit better. So the driver, I'm getting a little bit more distance out of it. I don't feel like I have to play it too low. But I can't hit the high bomb that I wish on some holes I could unleash."
Verdict: Contender
T7. Justin Thomas (-1)
He's a two-time major champion. He is starting to play much better golf. He was the clubhouse leader for a few hours Sunday at the PGA Championship. Thomas' short game and creativity are such X factors, but it felt like so much work watching him on Friday. He put his touch on display numerous times and scrambled his butt off from places that have a big X in the yardage book. Ultimately, the rope he is balancing on is going to give out.
Verdict: Pretender
T7. Sam Burns (-1)
Hand up, I have never been much of a Sam Burns guy, but he is starting to turn me. His game is beginning to translate on these more difficult golf courses and although he has not won in years (!), Burns will get to Sunday with a chance. His Sunday performances have not been great -- remember what happened last year at Oakmont! -- but the fact that he continues to put himself in this position feels like invaluable experience. He is going to put that to good use eventually, and it may be this weekend.
Verdict: Contender
T7.Harry Higgs (-1)
I want nothing more to be wrong. Higgs was the last man in the field, thought about quitting golf and has not finished inside the top 10 on either the PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour since last year's Myrtle Beach Classic. He is playing with house money, and sometimes those players are the most dangerous. He's got nothing to lose!
Verdict: Pretender
Harry Higgs' post-round presser was so good. The Big Rig was the last man in the field, has just one top 20 between the KFT and PGA Tour this year and is firmly in the mix heading into the weekend at the U.S. Open. "For the first time in a while I truly thought that, like, yeah,… pic.twitter.com/zbyHJasFhc
— Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS) June 19, 2026
T11. Scottie Scheffler (E)
The mindset for those seven off Clark's pace is to realize they are only three strokes behind second place. With 36 holes left to play, that deficit is extremely manageable. Scheffler looked very much like the Scheffler on Friday evening as he peppered fairways, peppered greens and was a few burned edges and bad bounces on the bumpy poa annua greens away from putting together a truly special round.
He seems at ease this week, which is impossible to pull off during a U.S. Open. In between the ropes, he has been calm. He has laughed off bad breaks and is showing little to no frustrations when something goes poorly. And I loved what he had to say about the possible setup this weekend.
"Doesn't really matter to me. I just play," Scheffler said. "Like I said, the golf course can change pretty quickly, and so a lot of that depends on do they want to water the greens, how fast they want to get them, where is the wind direction coming from, can they get them much quicker. There's a lot that goes into how they want to set up this golf course.
"You know, there's definitely some challenges to that I think with the amount of pitch they have on the greens, but overall we'll see what they want to do. My job is to go out there and play it. My job is not to set it up. So doesn't matter to me."
Verdict: Contender
The world No. 1 is T-11 entering the weekend at Shinnecock 👀 pic.twitter.com/ugFoWcqM3o
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 20, 2026
T11. Rory McIlroy (E)
If you told Rory that he would be three strokes off second place at the halfway point, he would have taken it. The round got away from him on his back nine as some poor wedge shots started to creep into the bag, but all in all even par is well within reach of making a weekend run.
A good start on Saturday would carry a lot of weight and allow him the feeling of not having to push his way towards Clark's name. A lot of that will have to do with those wedges -- not only into the greens but around them as his chipping and pitching has not been as sharp as it was, say, at Augusta National when he played small ball and won his second green jacket.
Verdict: Contender
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