Signature Scroll: Shinnecock's relentlessness shines in Round 2 at U.S. Open

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Scores are lower than expected, but I can assure you it's not easy ...

Shinnecock's relentlessness

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — This is an observation I wholeheartedly believe to be true but have no way of proving: I’ve never seen players mark this many two-foot putts in my life.

It sounds innocuous enough, but as I crisscrossed between groups on Friday afternoon, I couldn’t help but notice the constant, perpetual state of anxiety that the simplest putts elicited.

It’s one of the many ways that Shinnecock Hills wears you down. There’s hardly any water on the course or penal out of bounds. Nearly every green is accessible, even if you miss the fairway. Many of the pins are sitting in the middle of the greens.

What makes Shinnecock difficult is that you’re never allowed to relax. Every tee shot is watched until it can be seen in the fairway. Every approach shot is analyzed until it comes to rest. No putt, however short, is a gimme until you’re picking it from the cup. Every time a putt drifts by the hole, which it seems to do improbably often, it requires an extra expenditure of energy. Shinnecock might not trip you up the first time, but it constantly pokes players on the shoulder, saying, “You’re not done with me yet,” until it finally bites back.

There was no clearer representation of this than Rory McIlroy’s back nine, which was a topsy-turvy, confusing and never comfortable absurdist version of golf. He didn’t make a par until the 16th as he fluctuated between aghast, jubilant and despondent – sometimes all in the same hole. He was contending, then dead, then alive, then OK. Each hole concluded with a deep breath as if he had lived an entire life in between tee shots. It was tiring to watch. I can’t imagine what it was like to play.

It’s with that lingering thought that I must say: This U.S. Open is far from over. Yes, Wyndham Clark has looked great. A four-shot lead is a heck of a cushion entering the weekend. But I watched Dustin Johnson drop four strokes within three holes, then drop another four strokes on one hole alone. This place never lets you rest.

Clark has to endure 36 more holes of exacting, pressurized golf with a star-studded leaderboard bearing down and course conditions that are only expected to ratchet up. If a putt came to rest 18 inches past the hole on Friday, expect it to get to 36 inches by Sunday afternoon. Clark will play the greens at their crustiest while wearing a target on his back.

Matt Fitzpatrick joins Clark in the final pairing, four strokes back. Xander Schauffele, Colin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Gary Woodland and McIlroy are all inside the top 15.

Clark may well win, but he will earn it.

Playing through

• 🗣️ Harry Higgs might have had the best press conference of this season. My colleague Will Gray broke down how "the Big Rig" nearly quit the game a few weeks ago, nearly split his pants Thursday, and contended by Friday.
• 🍇 More on Wyndham Clark: I wrote about this version of Clark. We’ve seen it before, and it’s quite dangerous.
• 🤕 Morikawa continues to produce results despite physical issues. More …
• ❌ Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka highlighted the biggest disappointments that missed the cut.

A feat of youth

The standard bearer for the 1:29 p.m. ET tee time on Friday watched in wonderment. He had quite a unique assignment. It’s not often the kid carrying the scoring sign is older than a participant he’s following.

“He shook my hand,” Brody, 17, told me gleefully while waiting for Miles Russell, also 17, to tee off on the second hole.

It’s worth lingering on what Russell is doing. The world’s top-ranked junior has not yet reached college. He’s already the youngest player ever to make a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour, and now, in his first major appearance, he’s playing the weekend. He’s the second-youngest to make a U.S. Open cut since World War II.

It would be alarming if it all didn’t look so normal to him. It has for a long time. I first met Russell when he was 15, ahead of his TOUR debut at the Rocket Classic. Even then, he operated like he was a pro. He spent the day with us, doing interviews and letting cameras into his life. He was eerily comfortable. You got the sense then that his mind was ready for this and he just needed his body to catch up. That’s still a work in progress, but his talent is overwhelming enough that it just doesn’t matter.

We are all obsessed with finding the next young star. We cycle through names with head-spinning regularity. In the last 24 months, we’ve bounced between Nick Dunlap, Luke Clanton, Gordon Sargentand David Ford. We’re all ready to move on to Ben James,Jackson Koivun and Preston Stout.

It was fun to linger with Russell on Friday. He hasn’t truly entered our orbit yet. You get the feeling he will soon, and for a long time at major championships. This will always be his first.

It will be cool for Brody to say he knew Russell then.

Parting shots

• 👑 We’ve made it this far without a Scottie Scheffler mention. That’s telling. The career Grand Slam push has been uneventful so far. Scheffler shot 2-under 68 to move to even-par overall. He’s in the mix. Something still feels off.
• 😯 Septuple bogey? That’s what Joaquin Niemann made on the sixth hole of his first round. We didn’t know till Friday morning that two of those strokes were because Niemann threw his club and was penalized. That’s how you make 11 on a par 4. Friend of the newsletter Gabby Herzig got the details from a volunteer on the grounds.
• 🇺🇲 It gets plenty of run, but Schauffele’s U.S. Open record remains absurd. Never finished worse than 14th, and that doesn’t seem in jeopardy. He’s tied for second and should probably be the favorite for this championship.
• ✔️ This always felt like a Thomas test to me. You can spray it a bit off the tee with the wide fairways, but it requires precise iron shots, creativity, different ball flights, and solid short game. Sure enough, Thomas is high on the leaderboard. He’s had quite an underwhelming U.S. Open career and has missed the cut the last three years. Nice to finally see him play well at this championship.
• 🌬️ Watch the winds on Saturday. They are supposed to flip from the prevailing wind, which could change the tenor of the entire tournament.
• 😓 Fifteen players have made three or more double bogeys or worse. Only one made the cut: Dustin Johnson.
• ❓The best ballstriker so far this week is … Ben Kohles. Would’ve fooled me, but the numbers don’t lie. He leads the field, having gained more than five strokes on approach thus far.