Past winners Gary Woodland and Wyndham Clark, the early event leader, shake hands after the resumed first round of the 126th US Open at Shinnecock Hills on Friday morning. Image courtesy usopen.com.
By Rahul Banerji
In-form American golfer Wyndham Clark went low to lead the 126th US Open field after a fog-interrupted opening day and an early start on Friday at Southampton, New York.
When heavy fog halted play on Thursday at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Clark was already 6 under after 16 holes, and he came back to complete his round early on day two at the same score.
Clark’s 64 is the second best score ever in a US Open played at Shinnecock Hills and the lowest first round. Tommy Fleetwood has the best round of 63 at the venue in 2018.
The 2023 US Open winner had 2016 champion Dustin Johnson hard on his heels with a 4 under 66 despite some late turbulence.
A further shot adrift at 3 under 67 were Alex Fitzpatrick, already a three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, and 2019 champion Gary Woodland, with Jon Rahm sharing fifth place on 2 under 68 with four others.
Enforced break
On Thursday, play was suspended initially for two hours and then again for a second and final time at 8.25 pm local time with almost half the field still out on the course.
Of the 12 former U. Open champions in the field, seven were tied for ninth or better including Clark, Johnson, Fitzpatrick, Woodland, Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.
Jack Nicklaus leads the way for most rounds in the 60s at the US Open with 29 with McIlroy (23), Phil Mickelson (23), and Tiger Woods (21) being some of the others.
World number one Scottie Scheffler, seeking a career Grand Slam, opened with a 2 over 72 while Australia’s Adam Scott, playing his 100th consecutive major, was 3 over 73 alongside two-time champion Brooks Koepka.
Meanwhile, Akshay Bhatia was the best-placed of the record five golfers of Indian origin competing at the US Open on even par 70 after round one.
PGA champion Aaron Rai had a 4 over 74, Sahith Theegala was 2 over 72, Canada’s Sudarshan Yellamaraju shot an opening 73 as did qualifier Manav Shah.
Also read: Indian-American golfer Manav Shah qualifies for US Open
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.