U.S. Open Round 1: Wyndham Clark Fires a Record 64 at Shinnecock Hills

Shinnecock Hills was supposed to be the monster in this story. Thursday, it was Wyndham Clark who did the biting.

The 2023 U.S. Open champion shot a 6-under 64 in the first round of the 126th U.S. Open, the lowest opening round in any U.S. Open played at Shinnecock Hills, and leads by two over Dustin Johnson. Gary Woodland and Matt Fitzpatrick are three back after 67s, and a group at 68 includes Jon Rahm, Sam Stevens, Max McGreevy, Spencer Tibbits and amateur Ryder Cowan. The round took about 26 hours to complete, and a familiar name sits on top.

Fog, Then a Long Day

The day started with nothing to look at. Thick fog rolled over Southampton and the USGA suspended play at 7:05 a.m., pushing everything back two hours with only 18 of the 156 players off the tee. When the fog finally lifted, the forecast villain was wind, with gusts projected north of 30 mph. It never fully arrived. Winds mostly sat in the 15 to 25 mph range, the greens were softer than anyone expected, and the USGA kept green speeds around 10.5 on the Stimpmeter.

The afternoon wave got the better end of it as the breeze laid down toward sunset. Darkness halted play at 8:25 p.m. with about 50 players still on the course, and they returned at 6:35 a.m. Friday to finish before the second round began.

Clark said afterward that the fog delay actually helped him.

Clark's Clinic

Clark started on the 10th and birdied his first two holes. His only real blemish came at the par-3 second, where he made bogey. Then his second nine caught fire, a birdie-birdie-eagle run, with the eagle 3 coming at the par-5 fifth. When the horn blew Thursday night he was standing on the eighth tee, his 17th hole, at 6 under with a four-shot lead.

He came back Friday morning needing two pars to post the number, and that is exactly what he did. He just missed birdie looks from 18 feet on the eighth and about 30 feet on the ninth, but 64 still bettered the previous low opening round at Shinnecock by two shots. Tommy Fleetwood's 63 from 2018 remains the U.S. Open low at this course.

A year ago, Clark shot 74-74 and missed the cut at Oakmont, and the way that week ended followed him for months. This spring he rebuilt his swing with coach Pat Coyner and won THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson with a final-round 60, according to the PGA TOUR. Thursday looked a lot like 2023.

DJ Turns Back the Clock

Johnson's 66 was the other storyline that refused to be quiet. This is the final year of the U.S. Open exemption he earned by winning at Oakmont in 2016, and he played like a man who knows it. Johnson ripped off four straight birdies, then gave two back with a double bogey at the sixth after three-putting from about 6 feet. He answered by birdieing two of his last three holes and added a stout par save, finishing his round Friday morning to sit alone in second.

Woodland said patience was the key to his 67. Fitzpatrick, the 2022 champion, matched it. Rahm's 68 came without a single bogey, a rare clean card at a U.S. Open.

The Strangest 70 You'll Ever See

Keith Mitchell shot even par, and that number lies about everything that happened. Starting on the back nine, Mitchell made a double bogey at the 10th and was 6 over through seven holes. He turned in 41. Then he played the front nine in 29, with an eagle at the fifth and a birdie at the ninth to close it out. It was only the seventh nine-hole 29 in U.S. Open history and the second at Shinnecock, and the USGA said it was the first time anyone had played one nine in the 20s and the other in the 40s in the same championship round.

Stevens had his own wild ride. After the fog lifted he double-bogeyed his first hole, the 10th, then played his last 17 holes in 4 under for a 68. "I've had a really crappy attitude," Stevens admitted, adding that it makes golf a lot harder. Cowan, a rising senior at Oklahoma, briefly held the lead alone in the afternoon and his 68 matched the lowest amateur round ever at Shinnecock.

The Stars Find Their Level

Rory McIlroy faced some of the stiffest wind of the day and still shot 69. He eagled the fifth to get to 3 under before bogeys at his final two holes, the eighth and ninth, cost him a better number. It was his 23rd sub-70 round in U.S. Open play, tying Phil Mickelson for second all time behind Jack Nicklaus.

Scottie Scheffler, chasing the career Grand Slam, had a grind. He scrambled his way to a 2-over 72 with four birdies, four bogeys and a double, and it was his 10th straight U.S. Open round without breaking par. Defending champion J.J. Spaun, whose Oakmont win we covered in our 2025 final-round recap, struggled to a 77 and has work to do Friday just to see the weekend. Jason Day withdrew with a back issue.

What It Means

Seventy-one holes remain, and Shinnecock rarely stays this gentle. Only three players have finished 72 holes under par in the five previous U.S. Opens here. Clark has a two-shot cushion and almost no time to enjoy it, since he went from his final putt of Round 1 to the range and then straight into Round 2. The cut is the top 60 and ties after 36 holes, and Friday will start sorting out who sticks around.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the USGA's first-round report (opens in a new tab) has more on the setup.

Sources: PGA TOUR, USGA (usopen.com), AP, Golf Channel, Field Level Media. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.