Scottie Scheffler surges into U.S. Open contention but Wyndham Clark still leads
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Wyndham Clark will enter the final round of the U.S. Open with the largest lead since 2011, but the world’s No. 1 player is in the final group with him.
Clark shot an even-par 70 on Saturday at Shinnecock Hills and is six strokes ahead of four competitors with 18 holes to play. It is the largest 54-hole lead at this major since Rory McIlroy led by eight strokes in 2011.
But it’s Scottie Scheffler in the final group with him, playing on his 30th birthday and only needing a U.S. Open win to complete the career Grand Slam.
“Scottie is the best player in the world, and he’s going to play probably really good. He always does, but it’s nice to have a six-shot lead on him,” Clark said. “But really, I’m just going to keep approaching it the same way. If I go out and execute and go through my process and hit the shots I know I can hit, I like my chances.”
Frustrated with three days of opportunities gone by, Scheffler needed just one break to unleash a run toward contention at the U.S. Open.
Scheffler was 2 over for the day as he made the turn Saturday, temporarily nine back of the lead and lacking his usual consistency. That was until he hit his approach on 10 – where much of the field flew past the tricky green – to 7 feet for birdie.
Then, chipping from an awkward angle around the 14th green, Scheffler chipped in and let out a massive roar. Scheffler is known to let out emotion in frustration, but it’s less common to see him get fired up from a big shot in the middle of a round. Scheffler was simmering with tension, and suddenly he let it out, carrying the momentum forward.
“We’ve been battling for three days now, and yeah, at that point over par for the tournament, you can feel like it’s kind of slipping away. To steal one there was really nice,” Scheffler said.
The next hole, he put his approach to 11 feet and made his birdie putt.
On the par-5 16th, Scheffler got a nice bounce from 270 yards out as his shot rolled to 13 feet from the pin. He missed his eagle putt, but tapped in for a third straight birdie.
Unfortunately for Scheffler, he found the bunker on the par-3 17th. He then missed a 7-foot par putt to return to 1 under. Scheffler placed his approach on 18 to 4 feet with a chance to get within four of Clark, but missed in disbelief.
“Late in the day, the greens, there’s a lot of activity, and with so much pitch and wind, there’s a bit of mystery as to how the ball is going to break. We had a kind of inside left read, hit a solid putt, and just kind of kept breaking,” Scheffler said.
Still, Scheffler’s chances seemed minuscule through 45 holes of the U.S. Open. He was 2 over on the week, and Clark seemed like he wouldn’t budge. Instead, Clark bogeyed No. 8 while Scheffler found something. Clark got his lead to seven strokes with an eagle on No. 16, before bogeying the 18th hole to drop to 7 under for the week.
Sahith Theegala, Tom Kim and Samuel Stevens are also tied with Scheffler at 1 under, with four others at even par.
The four-time major winner has two Masters on top of winning the PGA Championship and Open Championship last year to take three-quarters of the slam. If he pulls off the comeback Sunday, he’ll become the seventh player to complete the feat, joining Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Rory McIlroy.
“I have an opportunity to go out there and have a great round and give myself a chance to win the tournament,” Scheffler said. “Going into tomorrow, right now I think I’m five shots back, but we’ll see what happens as the day goes on. I could be 7 shots back and could be 3 shots back. I don’t know what it’s going to be.
“But overall, proud of how we played on the back nine, and going into tomorrow, just continue to do what I need to do and try and execute.”