Quick answer: Wyndham Clark's six-shot lead nearly evaporated on the front nine at Shinnecock Hills. Three bogeys in his first seven holes shrank the cushion all the way down to a single stroke, with Sam Burns — not Scottie Scheffler — doing the chasing. Clark then steadied himself with a gutsy par save at the 9th and a brilliant birdie at the 10th to nudge the lead back to two. The wire-to-wire win is no longer a formality. This is now a real fight.

Here is how a coronation turned into a nail-biter, as of the start of the back nine.

How Did Clark Lose Almost All of His Lead?

He came undone in the worst stretch of his week, right when the pressure peaked. After cruising for three days, Clark opened Sunday tight, bogeyed the 2nd after missing the green, and then kept leaking shots. Three bogeys in his first seven holes dropped him to 4 under for the tournament and turned a six-shot buffer into a one-shot sweat.

The bogey at the 5th was the gut-punch. Clark twice tried to bump a recovery into a steep bank and twice failed to pull it off, eventually making bogey and watching his lead fall to a single stroke. For the first time all week, the man who could not miss a putt looked human, and Shinnecock, firm and nasty in the Sunday wind, smelled blood.

Who Is Actually Catching Him: Burns, Not Scheffler

The story everyone expected was Scheffler chasing down Clark on his birthday. The story that actually happened was Sam Burns.

Burns began the day seven shots back, barely on the radar. Then he went on a tear, reaching 4 under for his round through eight holes and pulling within a single shot of the lead. While the cameras stayed glued to the final group, Burns quietly turned the entire championship upside down from a couple of groups ahead. For a stretch on the front nine, it genuinely looked like he might run Clark down.

Then came the catch. Burns has a problem this week, and it lives on the back nine, where he has played 5 over par across the first three rounds. A bogey at the 9th cooled him off just as the closing holes arrived, the exact part of the course that has bitten him all week. He is still right there, but history says the hardest part of his round is ahead of him.

Why Hasn't Scheffler Make His Move?

Because the birthday dream has gone quiet. Scheffler bogeyed the very first hole, never found a rhythm, and has hung around even par while the action happened elsewhere. He sits around four shots back at the turn, in a tie down the leaderboard rather than in the leader's rearview mirror.

He is not out of it, and a player of his caliber can still post a number on the back nine. But the chip-ins and birdie runs that define his best golf have not shown up, and the Grand Slam bid that had Shinnecock buzzing all week is fading by the hole. If Clark gets run down, the evidence says Burns is the bigger threat than the world No. 1.

How Did Clark Steady the Ship?

With the two shots that may end up saving his championship. At the 9th, buried in thick fescue, he hit a stunning high chip that nearly dropped for birdie and salvaged a par he had no business making. Then at the 10th, a hole that has wrecked players all week, he flushed a wedge with so much backspin that it sucked back to a few feet, set up a birdie, and pushed his lead back to two.

That is the Clark of the first three days, the one who answers every threat with a clutch shot. He has done it all week, and he did it again exactly when the tournament threatened to slip away. His nerve, and that putter, are the only reasons this is still his to lose.

Does Clark Have the Experience to Hold On?

He does, and it is worth remembering. This is not Clark's first time playing the villain down the stretch at a U.S. Open. In 2023 at LA Country Club, he closed out his first major in the final group against crowd favorite Rickie Fowler, with the gallery firmly against him, and won by five while holding off McIlroy and Scheffler.

He has a plan for exactly this. His sports psychologist had him turn the crowd's cheers for Fowler into fuel for his own goals, and he can run the same playbook today with the chants for Scheffler. He has been here, he has done it, and that scar tissue might matter more than any swing over the closing holes.

What Else Is Happening?

  • A hostile crowd. Fans have rooted hard against Clark all day, some loudly enough to get ejected, while serenading Scheffler with happy birthday on the first tee. It is Clark against the world out there.
  • A birthday twist. Both Scheffler, turning 30, and Tom Kim, turning 24, are playing on his birthday. No player has ever won a major championship on their birthday, a small piece of history hanging over the day.
  • Rory's quiet exit. McIlroy closed with back-to-back 73s to finish 6 over, well out of it, another major weekend that got away from him on the back nine.
  • A Father's Day moment. Seventeen-year-old amateur Miles Russell had his dad take the bag to caddie him up the 18th in his major debut, the kind of moment that outlasts any leaderboard.

The Raw Read

This is everything a U.S. Open Sunday should be. A runaway leader suddenly wobbling, a chaser nobody saw coming, a hostile crowd, and a brutal golf course firming up by the hole. Clark's massive lead is all but gone, and the ghost of every blown six-shot lead is hanging over Shinnecock.

But he is not done. He answered the collapse with two of the best shots of his week, he has the experience of closing a U.S. Open against a hostile gallery, and he still leads. The back nine will decide whether this becomes a coronation he had to fight for, or a collapse that lives forever. Either way, nobody is leaving early now.

This is a developing story and will be updated as the final round continues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Wyndham Clark still leading the 2026 U.S. Open?

Yes, but barely. His six-shot lead shrank to one on the front nine before he birdied the 10th to push it back to about two at the turn.

Who is challenging Wyndham Clark?

Sam Burns, who started seven back and charged to within one shot, has been the main threat, while Scottie Scheffler has stalled around four back.

Why did Clark's lead shrink so much?

He made three bogeys in his first seven holes on a firmer, tougher Shinnecock setup, while Burns birdied his way up the leaderboard.

Can Scottie Scheffler still win the Grand Slam?

It is increasingly unlikely. He bogeyed the first, has not made a charge, and sits several shots back at the turn.

Has anyone ever lost a six-shot final-round lead in a major?

Only once. Of 21 players who led a major by six or more entering the final round, just Greg Norman, at the 1996 Masters, failed to win.