Xander Schauffele says it’s Wyndham Clark’s US Open to lose

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Xander Schauffele entered Saturday with a chance at the U.S. Open lead, but poor putting and a pair of double bogeys left him seven strokes behind leader Wyndham Clark.

Now, tied for sixth place at even par, the two-time major winner and career U.S. Open scoring leader was among the chorus of chasers at Shinnecock Hills saying it was Clark’s tournament to lose.

Only Arnold Palmer in 1960 has overcome a seven-stroke deficit to win a U.S. Open.

“It’s all in Wyndham’s hands, really,” Schauffele said. “If he plays a really solid round of golf tomorrow, if he shoots even par or 1 over or 2 over, he’s going to win the golf tournament. That’s how I think it’s going to pan out.”

Schauffele followed a near-flawless 66 on Friday with a 73 on Saturday. He started the third round at 3 under and was only three behind after Clark bogeyed the first hole.

But Schauffele soon went backward, with bogeys on the third and sixth holes bookending a birdie on five. Things got worse on the back nine, with two double bogeys in a three-hole stretch.

On 10, Schauffele put his tee shot in the rough, his approach in the sand and rolled his bunker shot off the back of the elevated green. On 12, he three-putted after stops in the rough and a bunker short of the green.

After sinking a combined 126 feet of putts on Friday, Schauffele made just 47 feet of putts Saturday. His longest was just 6 1/2 feet.

Schauffele ranks 48th on the PGA Tour this season in strokes gained putting, 101st in putts per round and 115th in putting average.

Birdies on 13 and 15 and a sand save for par on 11 salvaged Schauffele’s day. Or, as he described it to reporters afterward, “kind of a long day, U.S. Open day.”

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“It was kind of a little bit of everything, to be honest,” Schauffele said. “Kind of a slow start. Then had a bad stretch of golf there 10 through 12. I hit a great bunker shot on 11, but could have been worse, I guess.”

“Then I was just trying to get back into touch. Wyndham is playing great … and kind of the rest of the herd is trailing by a lot, and I’m one of them.”

Schauffele plays exceptionally well in the U.S. Open, but hasn’t won the tournament.

He finished in the top 10 in seven of his nine previous appearances, including a tie for third in 2019, and owns the best scoring average among players with at least 20 rounds. His worst finish was a tie for 14th in 2022.

“The way this tournament is panning out, if I can — in my mind, if I can get to 4 or 5 under, that would be all-world,” Schauffele said. “I’m not even sure if that’s possible tomorrow.”