Five players with most at stake for final round of U.S. Open

Southampton, N.Y. — Is the U.S. Open already over? Wyndham Clark leads by six strokes, a historically impressive performance that is 18 holes away from becoming one of the most dominant in U.S. Open history.

Yet Shinnecock Hills has a way of delivering drama, and the final round still has several juicy storylines and notable players that will attempt to get in the mix and spoil Clark’s coronation.

Ahead of Sunday’s final round, here are the five players with the most at stake.

Scottie Scheffler

This one is obvious, right? Scottie Scheffler is 18 holes away from the career Grand Slam and has just one person to pass to make it happen. Scheffler would have signed up for that at the start of the week.

Ask any modern player, trying to win the career Grand Slam doesn’t get any easier. Rory McIlroy spent a decade desperately searching for the Masters, with each passing chance becoming harder than the last. Jordan Spieth is still trying to put the pieces together and win the PGA Championship. Phil Mickelson has long coped with the fact that the last leg is likely out of reach. The questions are constant, and the anxiety unavoidably heightens. It’s a cocktail of nerves and expectations that is difficult to kick.

“I was playing for two things then. I wasn't just playing to win the Masters, I was playing to join this group of people that I, you know, dreamed of joining one day,” McIlroy said earlier this year.

There’s a reason only six men have ever achieved the feat. Scheffler could be the first since Tiger Woods to do it in their first attempt.

The crazy thing is, Scheffler doesn’t seem to have his best stuff, and yet here he is, 1-under overall and six strokes back. He could have easily been three closer to Clark. Scheffler missed a 13-footer for eagle at the 16th, a 7-foot par putt at the 17th and a 4-foot birdie at the 18th.

Wyndham Clark

A six-shot lead is a heck of a cushion. It’s also quite the burden. Clark enters this Sunday with expectations he didn’t have in 2023 when he was trying to close out his first U.S. Open. He was the underdog then. The man nobody expected to outduel Rory McIlroy, Scheffler and Rickie Fowler. There would have been no stories written about him failing to emerge from that crop.

There will be Sunday if Clark doesn’t close.

That comes with the territory of being a star, which Clark is on his way to becoming if he wins his second U.S. Open. It’s heady territory. There have been 11 multi-time U.S. Open winners since 1980. The list includes Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and Ernie Els. Retief Goosen won his second at Shinnecock in 2004. Will history repeat itself?

The final round is assuredly the most pressurized environment Clark will face, particularly with Scheffler as the fan favorite pushing for history. Can he withstand it? He was impressive on Saturday, holding onto the lead and staying steady while everyone else around him fell away.

Sam Stevens

If J.J. Spaun and Aaron Rai can do it, why not Sam Stevens? The 29-year-old could follow in the footsteps of the recent unheralded first-time major winners. After several years of only the biggest stars winning majors, we’re on a run of underdog stories.

Stevens would certainly be one. He has never won an event on the PGA TOUR or Korn Ferry Tour, though he has carved out a steady career despite that. Stevens has maintained his card ever since he first earned it in 2022 and has never finished worse than 96th in the FedExCup. Conversely, he’s never finished higher than 36th. He’s subsisted in the hearty middle of the PGA TOUR. Sunday is his chance to break free from it. The stakes are high, but the expectations are low. That’s a comfortable place to be. Nobody will blink if Stevens folds. That should enable him to chase it. Everyone above him on the leaderboard faces immense pressures unique to their circumstances. Stevens can play free, at least until he pushes himself squarely into the mix. Then we will see what he’s made of.

Xander Schauffele

The best modern U.S. player still lacks a U.S. Open. His resume is unimpeachable, except that he has yet to win one. Can he change that? Schauffele sits at even-par, seven back of Clark.

Schauffele has never finished worse than 14th at America’s national championship. He has six top-10 finishes in eight appearances. Yet, despite how steady he has been, he’s never truly contended in the waning moments of the championship.

Schauffele will likely need Clark’s help, but if Clark stumbles, this tournament is wide open and Schauffele is in position to snag it. It’s a similar situation to the 2024 Open Championship. Schauffele hung around a large pack at Royal Troon, made a charge midway through the round as others faltered, and was suddenly raising the Claret Jug. That will be his recipe on Sunday, too. If he wins, he’s suddenly only a Masters away from the career Grand Slam. That’s heady territory. Sunday is also Schauffele's chance to prove 2024 was more than just a hot few months. He has yet to play that well since. A rib injury derailed much of 2025, but he’s back healthy and should be re-entering the conversation as a top-five player.

Tom Kim

Where the heck did Tom Kim come from? The South Korean had faded into obscurity over the last year, but he rocketed into contention this week with some incredibly steady golf. He’s 1 under, six back of Clark.

Kim has been in our lives for a long time already, but it shouldn’t be understated how much of an accomplishment it would be to win a major at only 23 years old. Kim is already a three-time PGA TOUR winner, but a major championship would push him into an entirely different echelon.

It’s also a life raft. Kim has played better recently, but he remains a bit of an enigma. He ranks 98th in the FedExCup and 141st in the Official World Golf Ranking. Even if Kim doesn’t win, it will be important for him to stay engaged down the stretch on Sunday. The top four and ties earn exemptions into the Masters. Finishing in the top 10 earns him an exemption into next year’s U.S. Open.