'Very stressful' Shinnecock bites Shane Lowry as Clark sets US Open pace

Lowry saw his week end early on Friday at Shinnecock, where he shot a second-round 73 to miss the 36-hole cut, finishing 13 shots behind leader Wyndham Clark.

Shane Lowry: “I find the course very hard, to be honest. It’s as easy as we could have played in the last two days now." Pic: Warren Little/Getty Images

For all the talk about Shinnecock Hills, its difficulty, and how the United States Golf Association needed to be careful this time in how it set the course up for the U.S. Open, Wyndham Clark was left to wonder. What’s all the fuss?

The 2023 U.S. Open champion has seemingly breezed through two rounds at the iconic venue on the tip of Long Island, following a first-round 64 with a 69 to forge an early lead through 36 holes at 133, 7-under par.

When Brooks Koepka won the championship here eight years ago, his winning score was 1-over par.

All of which left Ireland’s Shane Lowry wondering what course Clark was playing.

In the lead-up to last year’s Ryder Cup – where Lowry holed the Cup-clinching putt for Europe on the final day – several members of the team had the opportunity to play Shinnecock Hills, about an hour away from Bethpage Black.

The visit was more of a team-bonding, golf-playing exercise than a scouting mission, but it was still a good chance to see the venue for the 2026 U.S. Open.

For Lowry, it didn’t do him much good.

The 2019 Open champion saw his week end early on Friday at Shinnecock, where he shot a second-round 73 to miss the 36-hole cut, finishing 13 shots behind leader Wyndham Clark.

“I find the course very hard, to be honest,” Lowry said afterward when asked about the September visit. “It’s as easy as we could have played in the last two days now.

“A very stressful golf course, and a hard course to come play, and put yourself out there on a pedestal in front of the world. You’re there for the taking when you’re out there. So I find it pretty hard.” 

It must have seemed a different course to the one Clark was playing, even though he was only a group behind.

Clark recently emerged from a funk of his own when he won the CJ Byron Nelson on the PGA Tour, took advantage of relatively calm conditions late Thursday and followed up with a solid round Friday-hole total of 133, 7-under par. He led 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and two-time major winner Xander Schauffele by two strokes as play continued into the late afternoon.

Masters champion Rory McIlroy began play in the afternoon after shooting a first-round 69.

Clark was the subject of considerable consternation last year at the U.S. Open, where he missed the cut at Oakmont and then put his foot through a locker, causing a rebuke from the club and a suspension.

Earlier, Clark had an issue at the PGA Championship in Charlotte, where he threw a club in anger, hitting a billboard and nearly a spectator.

“I've gotten a lot of grief since last year, rightfully so,” said Clark, who also finished third at the Memorial and tied for 11th last week at the Canadian Open. “The thing that's unfortunate is that's not who I am, what happened last year.

“I'm hoping I can win back the fans that I had or some new fans because it was a terrible incident. I really feel like I can show people that I'm fun and outgoing, I'm fierce, competitive, love the game, respect the game, and I just had a bad moment. Hopefully I can win those people back.

“Yeah, I definitely feel like I'm in a better place. Hopefully a great weekend and great rest of the year, maybe I'll gain all those fans back.” 

Clark’s issues are even more interesting in relation to what is occurring this year with the major championships all invoking a code of conduct policy. It is related to Rule 1.2b which deals with conduct issues and which is being applied differently at each of the majors this year.

For example, Sergio Garcia got a warning at the Masters during the final round when he smashed a garbage bin and pounded the turf on the second tee with his driver after a poor tee shot.

But at the U.S. Open, Joaquin Niemann was hit with a two-shot penalty before teeing off for his second round Friday morning for actions that occurred Thursday on the sixth hole – his 15th.

Niemann hit two balls out of bounds before hitting a third tee shot – his fifth – into a rough area where his ball came to rest among fire ants. He asked a rules official for relief, was denied, and then showed his anger by swinging at a marker for the ball left by a volunteer. After hitting what was his sixth shot, he threw the wedge toward the green.

The Chilean golfer, who plays for the LIV Golf League, ended up making a 9 on the hole – which was changed to an 11 after the two-shot penalty.

According to the USGA’s code of conduct policy:

“If a player’s (or their caddie’s) behavior is so far removed from what is expected in the spirit of the game of golf, in accordance with Rule 1.2b, the Chief Referee, in consultation with the Championship Director, may apply a penalty of two strokes or disqualification, taking account of the frequency, impact, intent and severity of the misconduct.” 

Niemann said he learned of the penalty just after signing his scorecard for a 78 and before his second-round tee time. Amazingly, he went on to shoot 65 in the second round to make the cut at 3-over par, which is 10 shots behind Clark.

“I got pretty frustrated,” Niemann said. “I’m not someone that likes to (have) bad behavior. I’m the first one to judge myself when I don’t behave on the golf course. Yeah, was misbehaviour from my part. I felt like a little bit extra penalised with two-shot penalty, but I think it is what it is. I think I'm going to learn from it. It definitely kind of helped me a little bit to have a better round today.” 

Niemann, who said he was not aware of the conduct policy, said he was not angry about the ruling but frustration got the best of him after his layup shot. The horn then blew, ending play for the day.

“I couldn't resist to throw it away,” he said “I was looking around. There were no people, obviously. No one there. I'm not proud of it, but yeah, I mean, sometimes, all the expectation of trying to play well and things doesn't go your way, you get frustrated, and that was me there.” 

Aside from Clark, Shinnecock yielded plenty of frustration. Two-time U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau shot 75 to miss his third cut in a major championship this year. Two-time major champion Jon Rahm shot 41 on his closing nine holes to shoot 78 and miss the cut.