Clark Leads By Four As He’s Among 50 Players Still To Complete Play After Darkness Halts US Open First Round

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2026 U.S. Open Championship
Shinnecock Hills, New York June 18-21, 2026 
Shinnecock Hills Golf Club Par/Yards: 35-35—70 (7,440 yards) Purse: $22.5 million

PARTIAL First-Round Notes 

Weather: Cloudy. High of 74. Wind SSW 12-24 mph, with gusts to 36 mph. Play was first suspended due to fog at 7:05 a.m. and resumed at 9:05 a.m. (2-hour delay).

Play was stopped for the day due to darkness at 8:25 p.m. with 50 players yet to complete their round.

Those players will be back in position at 6:35 a.m. Friday, with all second-round tee times moved back 15 minutes.

PARTIAL First-Round Leaderboard
Pos. Player R1
1 Wyndham Clark -6 (thru 16)
T2 Sam Stevens 68 (-2)
T2 Ryder Cowan (a) 68 (-2)
T2 Max McGreevy 68 (-2)
T2 Matt Fitzpatrick -2 (thru 16)
T2 Dustin Johnson -2 (thru 15)
T2 Gary Woodland -2 (thru 15)
T2 Jon Rahm -2 (thru 13)

 Of the 12 past U.S. Open champions in the field, seven currently T9 or better: Wyndham Clark (1st), Matt Fitzpatrick (T2), Dustin Johnson (T2), Gary Woodland (T2), Jon Rahm (T2), Rory McIlroy (T9), Bryson DeChambeau (T9)

Wyndham Clark (1st/-6 thru 16 holes)
 2023 U.S. Open champion is currently 6-under with two holes to play in his first round
 Shinnecock Hills course record: Tommy Fleetwood (63/R4/2018)
 Has not had an under-par round at the U.S. Open since winning in 2023
 Best score in 14 prior rounds at the U.S. Open: 64/R1/2023
 Would represent his eighth career 18-hole lead/co-lead in individual stroke-play events on TOUR (most recent: 2026
Memorial Tournament presented by Workday/finished third); 0-for-7 converting to victory
 Win in 2023 marks his only top-10 finish in five prior US. Open starts (MC/2021, MC/2022, 1st/2023, T56/2024, MC/2025)
 Making his 19th major championship start
 Closed with an 11-under 60 to win the 2026 CJ CUP Byron Nelson, his fourth PGA TOUR victory
 One of four players on record to post a final-round 60 or better on the TOUR and go on to win – and the only player to achieve this feat twice: David Duval/1999 American Express (59), Stuart Appleby/2010 Greenbrier Classic (59), Tommy Gainey/2012 RSM Classic (60), Clark/2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (60)* and 2026 CJ CUP Byron Nelson (60): *54 holes due to weather
 Only other top-10 finish this season came at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (3rd)
 Finished T11 last week at the RBC Canadian Open; currently No. 18 in the FedExCup standings
 Seeking to become a fourth multiple winner of the season: Matt Fitzpatrick (3), Cameron Young (2), Chris Gotterup (2)

Rory McIlroy (T9/-1)
 1-under 69 marks an 11-stroke improvement over the first-round 80 he shot in 2018 at Shinnecock Hills, which is tied for the highest score of his TOUR career (2010 Open Championship/R2, 2011 Masters Tournament/R4)
 Most rounds in the 60s in the U.S. Open (all-time): Jack Nicklaus (29), Rory McIlroy (23), Phil Mickelson (23), Tiger Woods (21)
 Six-time major champion is seeking to become the seventh player to win the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year (most recent: Jordan Spieth/2015)

Additional Notes
 With a 2-under 68, Sam Stevens (T2/-2) posts the best round of the morning wave
 Ryder Cowan (T2/-2) is seeking to become the first amateur inside the top five on a U.S. Open leaderboard after any round since Brian Campbell in 2015 (T4/R1/finished T27)
 Keith Mitchell (T18/Even) closed his round with a 6-under 29 on Nos. 1-9, equaling his best 9-hole score in 231 TOUR
starts; joins Neal Lancaster (1995/R4/back nine) as the only players to post a 29 in a U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hiills
 J.J. Spaun (T133/+7) posts a 7-over 77, the highest opening round by a defending U.S. Open champion since Rory McIlroy opened with the same score in 2012 at Olympic Club

 Additional notable players:
o FedExCup leader Matt Fitzpatrick (-2 thru 16 holes)
o World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (72); seeks Career Grand Slam
o Xander Schauffele (+2 thru 15 holes); bids for his ninth top-14 finish in as many U.S. Open starts
o Adam Scott (73); making 100th straight major championship start (second all-time)
o Brooks Koepka (73); would become the seventh player with three or more U.S. Open titles (2017, 2018)
o Aaron Rai (+4 thru 17 holes); would become first back-to-back major championship winner since Jordan Spieth (2015)
 Jason Day WD after 10 holes during the first round with a back injury



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