06/21/26 09:34:00
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06/21 09:32 CDT Wyndham Clark chases another US Open title barring another
Sunday surprise at Shinnecock
Wyndham Clark chases another US Open title barring another Sunday surprise at
Shinnecock
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) --- Two winners could emerge at the U.S. Open barring
any Sunday surprises at Shinnecock Hills.
That starts with Wyndham Clark, who went into the final round with a six-shot
lead. No one has ever lost a 54-hole lead that large in U.S. Open history, and
the last time anyone failed to win this major with a five-shot lead happened
107 years ago.
The other winner might be the USGA.
The toughest test in golf became too tough the last two U.S. Opens at
Shinnecock Hills, the Long Island course where the the turf can go from soft to
dry in a New York minute because of wind and sun and the sandy soil on which it
was built.
It was so out of control in 2004 that no one broke par on the final day. The
next time in 2018, some of the greens became borderline unplayable late in the
afternoon and caused more chaos. That remains the last U.S. Open with a winning
score over par.
This week has gone according to plan. John Bodenhamer, the chief competitions
officer for the USGA, had wanted to go easy at the start and allow a natural
progression of being tougher.
Clark, who won the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023, didn't make
it look that way. He has set a Shinnecock scoring record after each round with
extraordinary golf, from making long putts to a sublime short game and one
majestic 3-wood to make the only eagle all week at the par-5 16th.
He was at 7-under 203.
Throw out that performance, and only four other players were at 1-under par,
with four others behind them at even par.
All that was left was 18 holes to determine if Clark could hold on to become
the first wire-to-wire U.S. Open champion since Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst No.
2 in 2014, or if Scottie Scheffler could stage a rally on his 30th birthday to
win the career Grand Slam.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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