Wyndham Clark builds 4-shot lead before U.S. Open play suspended - ESPN

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Whatever dread Wyndham Clark felt when he saw the tee times and the forecast for the U.S. Open gave way to hope Thursday, and he still hadn't even arrived at Shinnecock Hills.

Morning fog led to a two-hour delay, and Clark had a feeling his late afternoon start would be an advantage as the wind began to subside with the setting sun. Good golf was still required, and Clark displayed every bit of that before he was stopped only by darkness.

By then, the former U.S. Open champion rode a birdie-birdie-eagle stretch to a 6 under par through 16 holes and a four-shot lead.

«Everything was kind of clicking,» said Clark, who came into the U.S. Open playing as well as anyone. «We were definitely fortunate with the wind laying down. Overall a good round.»

The USGA set up a different golf course at Shinnecock Hills — slower, more receptive greens and reasonable pin positions — to keep it playable in strong wind. But when the wind subsided late in the day, Clark looked as if he were playing in a different U.S. Open.

No one ever has gone lower than 66 in an opening round at Shinnecock Hills. Clark can go two shots lower if he can finish with two pars when he and 49 other players return at 6:35 a.m. Friday morning.

He led by four strokes over seven players — one of them 21-year-old University of Oklahoma senior-to-be Ryder Cowan; another one the surprisingly resurgent Dustin Johnson. Four of them were former U.S. Open champions.

Shinnecock was still a brute of a test, but the red numbers on the white scoreboard was an unfamiliar site for this course. When play was suspended by darkness, 17 players were under par.

Rory McIlroy thought he had made a fine effort to shoot 69 in gusts that topped 30 mph in the middle of