Wyndham Clark takes huge lead into Sunday showdown with Scheffler

Clark takes a six-stroke lead into Sunday's final round

Published Jun 20, 2026  •  Last updated 7 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Wyndham Clark of the United States lines up a putt on the 18th hole during the third round of the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on June 20, 2026 in Southampton, N.Y. Photo by Christian Petersen /Getty Images

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Tiger Woods used to like to say that winning takes care of everything, and Clark is one day away from not only following that motto, but possibly doing so in the dominant fashion for which the golf legend was known.

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Clark won his first major championship at the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club by one stroke over Rory McIlroy.

“I’m definitely a lot more confident and believe I can do it. I’d say in ’23 there was still doubts,” Clark said. “I hadn’t done it, so there was a lot of unknown. Now that I have done it, I know I can do it, and I can do it again.”

This year, after opening rounds of 64 and 69, Clark takes a six-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round at Shinnecock Hills. The famously difficult course is finally looking like its diabolical self as warm weather and wind has dried the course after a conservative set-up by the USGA for rounds one and two.

“The course changed so much,” Clark said. “It was very soft and easier to be more aggressive. The fairways got rock hard, so I was spinning my irons a little bit more.”

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The 32-year-old has been head-and-shoulders above the rest of the field as he has paired his powerful tee-to-green game with a short game clinic that sees him leading the field in putting.

“My goal is to just get as many looks as I can with how I’m putting, and hopefully I’m hoisting the trophy tomorrow,” Clark said.

Clark’s domination through three days is reminiscent of the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, when Martin Kaymer took the lead on Thursday and never looked back, eventually finishing at nine-under to win by eight strokes.

Although Clark has shown no signs of slowing down, were the wheels to get wobbly trying to get across the Sunday finish line, he will have the world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler right beside him looking to capitalize.

Scheffler, who turns 30 on Sunday, worked his way into the final group by shooting a one-under 69 that saw him make four birdies on the back nine, including three in a row beginning with a chip-in at the 14th.

“Scottie is the best player in the world, and he’s going to play probably really good,” Clark said. “He always does, but it’s nice to have a six-shot lead on him. But really I’m just going to keep approaching it the same way. If I go out and execute and go through my process and hit the shots I know I can hit, I like my chances.”

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Scheffler is six back of Clark and joined at one-under with Tom Kim (72), Sahith Theegala (70) and Sam Stevens (72).

Scheffler was one of just two players to shoot under par on Saturday, as Shinnecock showed its teeth. Playing hours ahead of the leaders, Emiliano Grillo shot the round of the day, a three-under 67.

Scheffler described how Shinnecock has changed throughout the week.

“The fairways were starting to firm up yesterday. Then the greens today started to firm up,” he said. “You’d see some pretty green grass and then some very brown grass, so there was a little bit of mystery in terms of how the ball was going to react when it hit the green. That’s just part of the challenge of U.S. Open is judging the conditions and putting yourself in the right spots and hitting great shots.”

“I feel like if you hit a great shot, you’re going to get rewarded. Good shots are going to be borderline. I assume going into tomorrow they’re going to continue to get firmer and firmer.”

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After two days of difficult winds but receptive greens, Shinnecock’s famous putting surfaces were literally dialed up to 11 on Saturday, on the speed measuring stimpmeter, that is. As the Poa annua greens speed up, they continue to be bumpy, especially later in the day. Both Clark and Scheffler missed putts inside five feet on the 18th hole on Sunday.

Grillo is in a group of four players tied at level-par, along with Xander Schauffele (73), Sam Burns (71) and Scott Mitchell (70).

It was a solid day for Corey Conners, the only Canadian to make the cut. He was briefly in red numbers after making a birdie a the eighth hole, before bogeying four of his next five as he made the turn.

“I had a sloppier stretch through the middle of the round,” Conners said. “I got myself into some tricky spots and didn’t execute a couple of shots the way I wanted to. I got punished and it made it tough to make some pars there for a while. But I kind of got things back on the rails a little bit at the end.”

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Conners finished his day in style, hitting a 357-yard drive at the 18th hole, and then throwing a dart to inside a foot with his wedge to birdie the closing par-4 and shoot a one-over 71.

“I hit an awesome drive, he said. “You kind of have to take on the left bunker, and I hit a really good one today. We got a good bounce out of it and it bounded down the fairway. I just had a short wedge into the green.”

“I hit a three-quarter sand wedge. I struck it really well. There’s a little bit of guessing involved with the bounce, but I judged it perfectly. It took a big hop and then kind of jammed on the brakes.”

Conners heads to the final round in a group tied for 13th at two-over par.

Read More

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   Corey Conners finds his game at U.S. Open, but putting woes resurface

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   U.S. Open leader Wyndham Clark says Canadian fans 'maybe crossed the line'

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