So much of the conversation leading into Thursday's first round centered on what the scoring would look like at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club as strong winds and potential rain created expectations for high numbers. The USGA promised a conservative approach to its setup for the 2026 U.S. Open after criticism over "losing" the course in 2018, but even those who expected the friendliest possible conditions couldn't have predicted what Wyndham Clark went out and achieved in the afternoon.
Clark will have to come back Friday morning to finish his final two holes, but he is 6 under through 16 holes in his first round, opening up a four-shot lead on the rest of the field. If that holds up as players finish their opening 18s, Clark will have the largest first-round lead in a U.S. Open since Tommy Armour led by five in 1933.
The day started with a two-hour fog delay, which pushed tee times back and prevented much of the afternoon wave from finishing the first round. The forecasted rain never materialized, and while the wind did blow heavily in the early afternoon, it was the morning wave that bore the brunt of it due to the delay. The result is a leaderboard currently dominated by those who went out in the late wave.
Among the 17 players under par currently, just six were part of the morning wave, and only one of the eight players at 2 under or better came from the morning (Sam Stevens with a terrific 68). Even considering the way the wind laid down in the afternoon while the greens remained receptive and pin positions were pushed more towards the middle, Clark's performance was nothing short of incredible.
Everyone else who got past 2 under eventually came back, as Shinnecock Hills eventually took its toll, but Clark has been able to keep his focus and not get overly aggressive in the wrong spots, putting himself in a bad position. When there have been opportunities to attack, he didn't miss them, with his finest shot of the day coming on the par-5 5th when he stuffed his second to 3 feet to set up a kick-in eagle.
Clark finished his day with a quality up-and-down for par from the bunker short and left on the tough 7th, and he will try to make two pars on the 8th and 9th to close out his round in the morning and get a 64 no one saw coming into the clubhouse.
1. Wyndham Clark (-6): On a hot streak entering the week, Clark was playing the best golf we've seen from him since 2023 ... when he won the U.S. Open. He's trying to make that two U.S. Open trophies on his shelf, and he seems to have every facet of his game absolutely dialed right now. It probably helped that he was in a comfortable group with Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland, as the three big, ambling guys had great vibes on their stroll around Shinnecock Hills, drafting off each other. Clark is striking the ball incredibly well, and after some major putter struggles (and putter changes) early in the year, he's dialed in on the greens and rolling it with supreme confidence.
T2. Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max McGreevy, Ryder Cowen (a), Sam Stevens (-2): Stevens held the clubhouse lead for a long time before McGreevy and Cowen joined him from the afternoon wave, as there's a distinct Oklahoma flair to the top of the leaderboard. That isn't just a coincidence, as those who played a lot of golf in the high winds on the plains feel comfortable in the blustery conditions on Long Island. Cowen is the biggest shock of the bunch, as the Oklahoma product leads a strong group of amateurs after Round 1.
Along with that trio is a quartet of former U.S. Open champions, who also have plenty of experience and confidence in their games in tough conditions. Johnson had it to 4 under late on Thursday before a hideous horseshoe lipout on the 6th handed him a bitter double bogey to drop him back off Clark's pace. He'll have a short birdie putt on the 7th, though, to pull a shot back when he resumes play on Friday morning. Woodland also has a longer birdie putt on the 7th to start his day, and while he never reached the same heights as his playing partners on Thursday, he couldn't help but draft up alongside them on the leaderboard.
Fitzpatrick has a birdie putt of his own on the 8th coming up to start his Friday morning, while Rahm is hitting his third from the rough on the par-5 5th as he tries to become the first player in 22 years to post a bogey-free round at Shinnecock.
T9. Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Åberg, Bryson DeChambeau, Brian Harman, Ben James, Max Greyserman, Corey Conners, Ben Kohles, Angel Hidalgo (-1): McIlroy and Åberg both held the solo lead at different points early in the day, but each backed up to end their rounds. McIlroy, in particular, closed on a bitter note, bogeying his final two holes to give away some shots to the field that became very important as the afternoon wave suddenly got a big advantage with the weather.
DeChambeau came out of the gates blazing at 2 under through 4, but he coughed those advantages up and plotted his way around the middle of his round without much going. However, he found a little something late as the breeze laid down, though a bogey on the 7th from the bunker took a little wind out of the two-time U.S. Open champion's sails.
T18. Tommy Fleetwood, Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, Joaquin Niemann, Keith Mitchell and 6 others (E): The group at even par has certainly kept themselves in it and can't feel bad about their effort so far. Fleetwood shooting a 70 and being the high man in his group with McIlroy and Åberg is a bit unfair, while Henley would have it lower without a double on the 11th. Niemann's shortcomings at majors have defined his young career, but he's off to a solid start after 14 holes and will try to stay in contention when he finishes his round on Friday. And then there's Mitchell, who shot the most adventurous 70 in U.S. Open history when he went 41-29 on the back/front after starting on No. 10, becoming the first player to ever shoot over 40 and under 30 on nine holes in the same round at the U.S. Open, per Justin Ray.
T29. Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama, Ben Griffin, Robert MacIntyre, Akshay Bhatia and 13 others (+1): Dozens of players would have gladly signed for a 71 if you gave them the option on Thursday morning, but this group nevertheless finds itself just a bit off the pace. Among the names at 1 over are a few star players with Sam Burns the man who came into the week in the best form of the bunch. He was in the lead for much of the morning at 2 under but came back on his second nine for a somewhat disappointing 71.
T49. Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Jackson Koivun (a), Miles Russell (a), and 19 others (+2): There's a huge group at 2 over, but the most notable pair in at 72 are Scheffler and Young, two of the pretournament favorites. Scheffler had a miserable day off the tee and had to scramble his way around Shinnecock to grind out a 72. Young also wasn't at his sharpest and had his putter let him down a few times on his way to a 2-over round. The two young amateur stars in the group will probably feel much better about their 72s than the top three players in the world. Russell and Koivun both look the part of rising stars and showed some impressive resolve in the tougher morning wave to fire 72s and hang inside the early cut line.
T72. Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and 16 others (+3): While they're only five shots out of the tie for second place, this group is currently outside the cut line as we have an incredibly bunched leaderboard for the second consecutive major. Koepka was part of the early story as he had it to red figures in the middle of his round, but a sloppy finish left the three-time U.S. Open champion frustrated with an opportunity he let slip away to get into the mix. Morikawa, Spieth and Rose, meanwhile, continue to be just enough off that they can't avoid the mistakes that cost you in a U.S. Open.
T133. J.J. Spaun and 9 others (+7): While Shinnecock didn't produce the kind of carnage that has been seen in the past, not everyone enjoyed their walk around Southampton's finest on Thursday. The defending champion, Spaun, didn't fare well in his title defense, shooting a 77 that has him 13 shots off the pace and in need of something special just to make the weekend.
The horn has sounded for darkness. Players will have the option to finish the hole they are currently playing or mark and start again in the morning. That means none of the five players at the top of the leaderboard still on the course will be able to get in the clubhouse, including Wyndham Clark who found the bunker off the tee on the 7th before the horn sounded.
Again, I must stress there's still nothing actually *easy* about Shinnecock Hills right now, just more gettable than expected. Dustin Johnson was reminded of that in painful fashion on the 6th green as he 3-putt for double bogey after going bunker-to-bunker on his second shot and then had a full horseshoe lip-out for bogey after running his par putt a couple feet past the hole.
That drops him to 2 under and Wyndham Clark is now in the lead alone by three shots over Matt Fitzpatrick, who is trying to scramble for par on the 7th himself.
There are nine players at 2 under or better and eight of them are from the late wave. While it'd be ridiculous to categorize Shinnecock Hills as an easy golf course right now, it's playing extremely friendly for a U.S. Open -- especially given the history at this venue. The way the USGA set it up was with 20+ mph winds gusting to 35 mph in mind, but now it's calmed down to 10-12 mph with greens still very receptive and pin positions much more towards the middle of these greens. That's allowing players to get aggressive, and with it being easier to find the wide fairways with the wind down, players are taking the green light and running with it knowing this is the best it's going to get.
What's interesting is how the USGA handles setup going forward. They'll stick to the plan of continuing to syringe the greens in the afternoon tomorrow and keeping green speeds the same due to the need to keep things as fair as possible for the early/late wave, but Saturday could be really interesting. They can dial it up on the greens and cut them to push the speed on the weekend -- or at the least tuck pins into some nasty corners to bring big numbers into play.
Tonight there will be plenty of conversation about whether they were too conservative, but the USGA is playing the long game. If they feel like they have the course under control after the first two days, they can start pushing it a bit more on the weekend to really put the test to these players.
After another huge drive, Wyndham Clark hit the best approach of the day on the par 5 to 3 feet to set up what looks like it'll be a kick-in eagle to get to 6 under.
He and Dustin Johnson are leading the way for the afternoon wave that is currently laying siege to a receptive Shinnecock Hills that is no longer getting the aggressive winds to protect it. The USGA set up the course for 20+ mph winds and they have laid down considerably and it's allowing guys to attack pins that are not pushed deep into the corners of the greens.
Clark is now at 6 under, which I'm not sure anyone thought would be possible at any point this week, while Johnson is on his heels at 4 under after making five straight birdies to start his front nine. It should be noted that the final four holes on the front are four of the harder holes on the first side, but that's largely because they play more into the wind and with it laying down a good bit, there might be an opportunity or two still out there for however long they still have daylight left.
The co-lead now belongs to Wyndham Clark and Dustin Johnson at 4 under, who are paired together and in a nice groove as a group alongside Gary Woodland. Both Clark and Johnson hit big drives down the 3rd and fired wedges into the very accessible pin to set up short birdies to become the latest to push the lead to 3 under.
It's the second time Clark has been at that number, while Rory McIlroy got their earlier, but every time someone has reached that figure, they've given it back somewhere along the way. However, the vibes are off the charts right now in the Clark/Johnson/Woodland group and all three birdied the 4th, moving Clark and DJ into the lead by two at 4 under, becoming the first players to reach that number.
They now have a great chance to reach 5 under on the par-5 5th that's playing downwind, but the breeze has settled down considerably and there are fantastic scoring opportunities for these guys chasing the sun.
Schauffele's record at the U.S. Open has been tremendous his whole career, but part of why he hasn't won the U.S. Open yet in spite of that play is he hasn't been able to avoid the kinds of lulls that the winners of this event tend to. Schauffele is steady, but those stretches where he needs to grind out pars to turn a solid round into a great one can elude him and that appears like it might be the case again on Thursday.
After getting out to 2 under early and grabbing a share of the lead, Schauffele has bogeyed three of his last four around the turn to slide back to 1 over and three shots back. He'll have chances to claw closer down the back nine, but a short par miss on the 7th and a sloppy bogey on the 9th after going from fescue to fescue to rough on the 18th, compounding his errors drifted him back down the leaderboard.
The top spot on the leaderboard is now Sam Stevens and four past U.S. Open champs, all of whom are still on the course. Wyndham Clark, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Matt Fitzpatrick have all made their way into a share of the lead with some strong play as they chase the late afternoon sun at Shinnecock Hills.
Fitzpatrick in particular has turned his day around after a slow start, ripping off four birdies in his last six holes around the turn to go from 2 over to 2 under.
Fitzpatrick has been one of the best players on the PGA Tour this season and is looking to pick up a second U.S. Open trophy after his win at Brookline a few years ago. He said coming into the week that he hoped the course would play hard to separate the best, and he's backing up that talk with some excellent play after a hiccup to start.
Well, I was a little confused when Jason Day came zipping by the first fairway in a golf cart with his caddie and golf bag on the back, but whenever that happens you know it's not good news. The Australian has withdrawn from the U.S. Open due to a back injury after playing 10 holes in 7-over fashion. Day was teeing it up in his 14th U.S. Open.
The scoring average is more than 4 shots lower so far than it was in the first round on 2018, but don't mistake easier for easy out there. The lead is still 2 under and any loss of focus can lead to a bogey or worse in a hurry. Billy Horschel unfortunately learned that the hard way on the easiest hole on the course, the par-5 5th that was playing 34 under before he arrived.
After going long with his third shot, Horschel faced a difficult chip back up the bank and then down the slope with the first cut just behind the ball. He couldn't get the spin he needed on it and rolled off the right side of the green, where he needed a couple attempts to get it on from below the green before a two-putt to walk off with a triple-bogey 8. Horschel had briefly held a share of the lead at 2 under, but a bogey-triple sequence on Nos. 4 and 5 has him quickly back in black figures.
The early run for Bryson came to a halt once he turned back into the wind at Shinnecock Hills. Both bogeys came after errant iron shots, which has been his Achilles heel when playing in the wind for some time now. Distance control early for DeChambeau looked great, but that has not maintained and the problem for DeChambeau is that his confidence and commitment with the irons and wedges tends to fade once he starts missing a few in the wind. That will be worth monitoring as this first round wears on, because at even par he's still very much in the championship, but on a day where scoring seems like it's about as good as it can be at a U.S. Open at Shinnecock, he won't want to back up too far and leave more work to do as the week wears on.
Word on the ground was that the afternoon wave on Thursday was going to be up against everything Shinnecock Hills and Mother Nature have to offer. Once tee times were released, some players contended that play could be suspended Thursday due to wind and that they would not mind it if it meant not being on the golf course.
The afternoon wave is still in the early proceedings — and the gusts continue to roll — but the scoring average is slightly lower than the morning wave. If you told these players that they would be in line with those off in the morning, they would have take it and ran.
Amateur Ryder Cowan has the solo lead late on Thursday afternoon after his third birdie on the back nine (his first nine) on the 17th hole got him to 3 under, one shot clear of a growing group at 2 under.
The Oklahoma Sooners star is well-versed in playing in the wind and is putting that practice to good use in the blustery conditions at Shinnecock Hills. It's early and he'll suddenly find himself playing with a lot more people and cameras around him now that he's grabbed the lead, but so far he has played some fantastic golf and is a big surprise at the top of the leaderboard.
DeChambeau's recent play in majors had him as a bit of an afterthought coming into this week. He's missed the cut in both majors to start the year and playing in the wind has not been a strength of his game in recent years, but he's off to a flying start on the first three holes, starting on the back nine at Shinnecock Hills. After two pars to start he made birdie on No. 12 courtesy of a 427-yard drive across the road on the par 4 to set up a flip wedge. Then on the 13th he validated that birdie with another from distance, just catching the left lip to curl in and join the lead at 2 under.
On the other side of the golf course, Xander Schauffele is once again off to a great start at a U.S. Open. He's never finished worse than T14 in nine U.S. Open starts and picked up birdies on No. 2 and No. 3 to also reach 2 under. Schauffele is looking for the third leg of his career grand slam in the event he's been the most consistently great in, and is off to a great start to what looks like it'll be another week in contention at a U.S. Open.
The last time Wyndham Clark came into a U.S. Open on a heater he won it in 2023. He's hoping to repeat history as he's playing the best golf we've seen from him since that season, and he's off to a flying start with a pair of birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 to get into a share of the lead early in his round.
Clark will now face the challenge we've seen a number of players struggle with, which is maintaining that momentum on an extremely challenging golf course. The lowest anyone's gotten today is 3 under, which Rory McIlroy touched briefly on his second nine after an eagle on No. 5 before giving two shots back on his final two holes of the day.
Eight years ago, Rory McIlroy lost his battle with Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, missing the cut at the 2018 U.S. Open after shooting an 80 in his opening round. An older, wiser McIlroy has seen his game mature tremendously since, and he put that on display in Thursday's opening round at the 2026 U.S. Open, bettering his score by 11 shots to shoot a 1-under 69 that put him one shot back of the lead as he signed his scorecard.
His maturation as a player, both in mentality and the diversity of shots he's capable of hitting, was apparent from the jump as he laid back into the 10th fairway on top of the hill with a low drawing iron below the wind off the tee. From there, he didn't tempt fate by trying to go at the flag on the right side of the green, wind ripping off the right, instead riding that breeze into the center of the green and two-putting for his par.
Read more on McIlroy's opening round here:
Bryson DeChambeau playing in the wind can be an adventure, but while the distance control with the irons and wedges will be something we're keeping an eye on all week, he will also have the chance to unleash some incredible drives when he gets the chance to play downwind.
On Thursday, his best opportunities to do so will be on Nos. 12 and 5, where it's just a green light to rip it. After two pars to start he didn't waste his chance on the 12th tee, sending it well across Tuckahoe Road with a 427-yard bomb that is, comfortably, the longest we've seen all day.
Chris Gotterup also put one out there across the road earlier today, but didn't quite cross the 400-yard mark. With the sun peaking out now and the wind picking up, Bryson was able to go full send and push it to just 45 yards from the flag as he tries to get into red figures early.
There are now five players in the clubhouse in red figures, with Sam Stevens still the only one to post 2 under. Hot on his heels are two of the pre-tournament favorites, as Rory McIlroy and Ludvig Åberg each shot a 1-under 69 to start their U.S. Open while paired together on Thursday. Both had the solo lead at different points on Thursday, but backed up a touch -- as tends to happen at Shinnecock Hills -- but each will be feeling confident about the way they handled the challenge and positioned themselves going into Friday's second round.
Also joining those two at 1 under are Brian Harman, Max Greyserman and Ben James. Harman has proven the ability to play in tough, windy conditions in his Open Championship win. Greyserman has played a ton of golf in the area and is known as a grinder, so it's not a shock to see him play well to start. James is one of the promising young stars making the leap to the PGA Tour from the college ranks, and is carrying his good play from Canada last week right into a first round 69 at Shinnecock.
A week ago, former Virginia standout Ben James took the 36-hole lead in his first start as a professional before a disastrous 80 on Saturday knocked him out of contention. That has not deterred the young man in his second pro start at the U.S. Open, as he's got it to -2 thru 14, good for a share of the lead alongside Rory McIlroy and Sam Stevens. That's some good work for someone who qualified his way in at sectionals a couple weeks back. Perhaps most impressively, James is bogey-free in his round so far, as he's managed to make his way around Shinnecock Hills without giving a shot back, something none of his fellow competitors at the top of the leaderboard can claim.
Keith Mitchell is in the clubhouse with an even-par 70, but it was anything but normal as he managed to do so without shooting in the 30s on either nine. Mitchell started on the 10th and went out in a 6-over 41 before catching fire on his front nine to shoot a 6-under 29.
When you add it all up the result is a 70 that has him in the top 10 currently -- and I'd wager with the conditions only getting tougher this afternoon that will likely stay in the top 10 by the end of the day. As Justin Ray noted, he's the first player in U.S. Open history to shoot a 40+ on his first nine and then break 30 on his second nine in any round.
I find the strategy on No. 10 so interesting, and players early in the week were split about what to do — lay up to the top of the hill or send one down and have a wedge in hand. I think when the greens start to firm up players will start to lay back slightly more to give them 30ish more feet of apex to work with coming into this green. In the morning wave, only four birdies were made with three of them coming from the top of that hill. Anything off the fairway just about secured a bogey or worse (the black dots). The scoring average was 4.605, which is currently playing as the second-hardest hole.
It hasn't been pretty for the World No. 1 but he's back to 2 over, five off Rory McIlroy's lead after his latest birdie on the 14th. It's been pretty simple for Scheffler today, when he's played out of the short grass he's given himself chances to score and when he's missed fairways he's struggled to save pars. The good news is he's scrambled well for most of the day, but it's hard to consistently make those putts from midrange par putts on these greens and he's had a few just miss and leave him flustered. Still, if he can get into the clubhouse at 2 over he'll be in perfectly fine shape going forward to contend on the weekend in his first attempt at winning the career grand slam.
A birdie at the last ended the round in style for Sam Stevens, who becomes the first man in the clubhouse in red figures after a terrific 2-under 68. That's good for second overall, one shot back of Rory McIlroy who is 3 under, but still has three tough holes left to play before he can take a breath and know his job is done for the day.
Stevens got it done on Thursday in part thanks to his accuracy off the tee, as he only missed one fairway in his entire round. While the fairways are wide this week at Shinnecock, they're still not easy to hit and hold in the wind, but Stevens gave himself a serious edge playing from the short grass all day. Once on the greens, he rolled it beautifully as well, picking up more than two shots on the field with his putting and needed just 27 putts on the extremely challenging green complexes in Southampton.
After a 396-yard drive (the longest of the day by 20 yards) and an absolute dart with his second from 190 yards out, Rory McIlroy made the second eagle of the day on the par-5 5th to become the first player to reach 3 under for the tournament and take the solo lead.
That, coming after his incredible par save on the 4th, could be the kind of swing that puts a trophy on the shelf on Sunday. That is still a long way from happening, but McIlroy is putting himself in position to contend for his second U.S. Open title early, as he has made it clear that winning big events on iconic courses is his main goal now. This would certainly qualify on both fronts, and he has four holes left to try and post a number in the clubhouse for everyone else to chase this afternoon.
It's only Thursday, but Rory McIlroy's par on the 4th (his 13th) in the first round might end up being one we want to make note of if he goes on to a Sunday in contention. McIlroy hooked his tee shot well left into the gallery off the tee and drew what looked like a great lie in the trampled fescue. However, he caught something on his swing that held the face open and sent the ball dead right, hitting the cart path and bounding again into a bare lie in the fescue well right of the green -- with a woman nearly picking up his ball while other fans screamed "NOOOO!"
McIlroy hit a really quality third to put it on the middle of the green and leave himself a lengthy par putt that seemed to, at the very least, take double bogey off the table. But the six-time major winner wanted one better and holed his long par putt for a clutch save to stay in red figures and keep his round rolling along.
That is the definition of a U.S. Open par, and it's those kinds of up-and-downs that can be the difference in winning and losing at a place like Shinnecock Hills.
After a 6-over 41 on the back nine (his first nine), Keith Mitchell is now -5 thru 5 on the front side after making the turn to get it back to 1 over for the round and just a few shots off the lead. He made birdies on Nos. 1, 3 and 4 and then found the center of the green with his second shot on the par-5 5th and poured in the first eagle of the tournament from there.
Mitchell looked like he might eject completely out of the tournament after working so hard to make it to Shinnecock through qualifying, but he's turned things around in a major way on the second side and looks like he's going to post a very respectable number in the clubhouse.
While there are a number of stars lurking around the lead, there are also a few surprises up near the top. Chief among those is Sam Stevens, who is tied for the lead with Ludvig Åberg at 2 under and only has three holes to play in his first round after starting the day on No. 10. Those three holes are absolute brutes back into the wind, starting with the extremely tough par-3 7th and then two difficult par 4s to close, but he will be the first player with a chance to post a round in the 60s on Thursday and then kick his feet up and watch the carnage this afternoon.
The 7th hole is an absolute nightmare of a par 3 -- as they all seemingly are at Shinnecock -- but Filippo Celli proved that even there with the right shot and trajectory, you can threaten the hole and set up a kick-in birdie.
Celli held up a flighted cut into the wind and danced it around the hole to leave himself a shorty for his first birdie of the day -- and one that'll pick up more than a shot on the field in the first round.
With his latest long birdie putt, Ludvig Åberg is back to 2 under and in the solo lead thanks to a perfect roll from the front-middle of the green on the 1st.
Åberg was rewarded for making the prudent play and leaving his approach below the hole rather than trying to take on the back pin position, paying it off with his second long birdie putt of the round. He's now got three birdies to just one bogey, which is some seriously good work around this golf course in these conditions.
Scheffler has been grinding his way through the front nine at Shinnecock Hills, but having to lean on your short game and putter to save you too often at this golf course is just asking too much. After his latest wayward drive in the fescue on the 8th, Scheffler compounded his mistakes by running his second through the fairway into the bunker short and left of the green to leave a lengthy sand shot for his third. After flying that too far he would 3-putt for double bogey and walked off the 8th at 3 over for the tournament.
Scheffler's struggled finding fairways early and that's a recipe for trouble at Shinnecock, which gives you wide fairways but punishes misses with a 5-inch first cut and even deeper fescue a few paces from there. Scottie has found the long stuff a few too many times for his liking to start his U.S. Open and is now behind the 8 ball early.
As one of the morning's marquee groups makes the turn all three players are in strong position on the leaderboard. Åberg leads the way at 1 under after a 34 on the back nine, while McIlroy and Fleetwood each were able to grind out an even par 35 to make the turn to the front side at even. McIlroy had it to 2 under early but gave those back with a couple bogeys in the middle of his back nine, but all three have to be feeling good about the way they're playing -- and the fact that they got out early in what appears like it will be the easier of the Thursday conditions.
