While his fellow U.S. Open competitors were trying to tackle Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and make it into the weekend, Wyndham Clark spent his Friday afternoon in the Hamptons t with his feet up, watching the U.S. men’s soccer team blank Australia, 2-0, to earn a spot in the knockout stages.  And why not relax and watch the rest of the U.S. Open field grind in the afternoon?

Through 36 holes of the 126th iteration of the National Open, Clark, who finished his second round at around 1 p.m., enjoyed a four-stroke advantage. His 7-under-par total of 133, which included an opening-round 64 that he finished early on Friday due to Thursday’s 2-hour fog delay, was a Shinnecock Hills record. His 6-under 64 was one shot off the course record posted by Tommy Fleetwood eight years ago in the final round when the Englishman came up a stroke shy of champion Brooks Koepka.

Now, Clark will enter Saturday’s third round in an ideal position, but history isn’t on his side:  No 36-hole leader in the last four U.S. Opens held at Shinnecock Hills has gone on to hoist the trophy.

And with the quality of chasers –several with major championships in their portfolios – in his rearview mirror Clark can’t get completely comfortable.

Matt Fitzpatrick, the 2022 U.S. Open champion and two-time major champion Xander Schauffele, who shot even-par 70 and 4-under 66, respectively on Friday, are in that group. They are joined by former Oklahoma State star Sam Stevens (69), who is still seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour andhas now made the cut in all four of his U.S. Open starts, and qualifier Tom Kim (67), the owner of three PGA Tour titles.

Collin Morikawa, another two-time major champion, posted a second-round 65 to get within five strokes of the frontrunner.

Five-time PGA Tour winner Sam Burns (68), who has finished T-7 and T-9 in his last two U.S. Open starts, two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas (68), qualifier Harry Higgs (68) and Sahith Theegala (67) are six strokes back at 1-under 139.

And never count Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffer out. Both are sitting at even-par 140. World No. 1 Scheffler, who turns 30 on Sunday, needs the U.S. Open title to complete the career Grand Slam, a feat world No. 2 McIlroy achieved by winning the 2025 Masters.

The cut came at 4-over 144, the lowest at a Shinnecock Hills Open, with 67 professionals and five amateurs advancing to the weekend.

While the winds were up again on Friday – 15 to 25 mph – they weren’t quite as blustery as Thursday, when gusts were recorded as high as 31 mph. Still, the players who had the late/early starting times got the better end of the draw.

What’s surprising was that Friday’s scoring average was 72.24, fairly low by U.S. Open standards

Friday brought an early wakeup call for Clark. Because of Thursday’s late finish, he didn’t get to bed until 10:30 p.m. and his alarm clock went off at 4 a.m. Friday for a 6:35 a.m. restart. He parred his last three holes to post the 64.

In Round 2, Clark parred his first eight holes before a bogey on No. 9. After consecutive birdies on 12 and 13, he avoided major disaster on the par-5 16th, recovering from a buried lie in a bunker to make a quality bogey 6. He then closed the day in style by converting a 33-foot downhill putt for birdie on 18.

When he won three years ago at The Los Angeles Country Club, Clark also opened with a 64 and followed with rounds of 67-69-70. He didn’t lead until the third round and then held off McIlroy, Scheffler, Cameron Smith and Fleetwood.   

“Yesterday, I really drove it great, and then I was just really conservative into the greens,” said Clark, who credits his recent work with Cherry Hills Country Club’s director of instruction Pat Coyner for his recent resurgence. “These greens are obviously the challenge of this golf course.

“Then today I kind of did the same thing. Wasn’t as sharp, but the consistency of hitting it to kind of conservative targets really paid off.”

An aura of confidence has returned for Clark, who admittedly had a pedestrian 2025 campaign that included a missed cut and unfortunate incident at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club last June. Since missing the cut at last month’s PGA Championship, he’s won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, finished third at the Memorial Tournament and tied for 11th at the RBC Canadian Open, the lead-up event for the U.S. Open.

“I got a swing coach that really helped me,” said Clark. “I’ve really progressed as the year has gone on. I wasn’t quite putting the scores and the results together, but then as I started putting well and found a putter, then everything started coming together. Then you start really building confidence.