The golf world got much of what it was asking for, Shinnecock Hills getting closer to the brawny U.S. Open test it craved, confounding the game’s best golfers.

All except Wyndham Clark.

On a wind-smacked Saturday when the course yielded a scoring average of 73.62 and just two sub-par scores among 72 players, Clark hardly flinched. Yes, his iron play was shaky as the breezy conditions challenged all comers. But his putter was more than reliable, allowing him to post an even-par 70 and extend a four-shot lead at the start of the round to six shots with the chance to claim a second U.S. Open title in four years on Sunday.

By day’s end, Clark had lost strokes with his approach play (-.12), but gained 1.52 with his putter. It wasn’t a bunch of birdie bombs, but rather a seemingly endless series of par-saving putts that seemed to never miss the hole.

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All told, Clark made 54 feet worth of par putts on the day, the only one missed of consequence being from five feet on the 18th hole in the gloaming in front of a half-full grandstand.

“They’re huge,” Clark said afterward of the par saves. “That’s what you have to make to win U.S. Opens. You’re not going to have too, too many birdie putts, and when you do miss, it’s really hard to hit a gimme, so you’ve got to make those kind of 5- to 12-footers.”

Wyndham Clark watches his tee shot on the 17th hole. David Cannon

He called out a four-footer made on the seventh as one of the best, his tee shot on the treacherous par 3 having gone over the green and his chip leaving him a slick putt. “That putt was diabolical, and I could three-putt from there, it was so sloped,” he said. “The fact I made that one was huge.”

Two more impressed him as well, on the 10th and 11th holes, both from just around five feet.

There were some fireworks, too, namely an eagle on the par-5 16th hole, the only 3 recorded there on the day.

Yet if the first 54 holes were a test of patience and perseverance, the final 18 will be a uniquely challenging task. A six-shot lead would seem to be too difficult to lose, save for the fact that one of the chasers, the one playing with him in the final pairing, will be Scottie Scheffler. The World No. 1 shot a third-round 69 to get him to one under for the championship.

Sunday is Scheffler’s 30th birthday, and if he were to pull off the all-time comeback, he’d claim the only major championship title he doesn’t already own, completing the career Grand Slam. Yet the burden of such history will be minimal given the deficit he’ll face, the pressure instead on Clark to win.

A four-time PGA Tour winner, including last month at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, Clark, 32, says he’s in a better place to handle the situation than at any point in his career. Particularly, compared to three years ago when he went on to win the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

“I would say I’m definitely a lot more confident and believe I can do it,” Clark said. “I’d say in ’23 there was still doubts. 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.”

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Where you can see it is how he handles his temper and temperament on the course, he says. “I’ve just gotten a lot better of moving on and making each shot its own shot and not thinking, wow, why did I do that, how did I get myself here. I’ve gotten so much at better at going, okay, now I have this shot, this is the new challenge, embrace it, and try to hit the best shot you can.

“That’s huge in golf, and I think sometimes in the past or especially when I’m playing poor golf, I let the previous shot affect or previous holes affect the next one. That’s probably what has really helped me.”

It will come into play on Sunday at Shinnecock, particularly given the potential for the crowds to be rooting on Scheffler and the history he’ll be aiming for. During Saturday’s round, Clark received a lukewarm reception from fans, noting the atmosphere feeling flat. No doubt, however, what’s at stake will fuel Clark all by itself. The question then is whether he can stay focused on his game and make sure he adjusts to a course that will likely been even more stern on Sunday.

“If I can go out there and try to hit a lot of fairways, it would be a dream to hit 18 greens,” he said. “That’s kind of 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.”

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Main Image: Christian Petersen