Golf-Clark looks to build halfway lead in promising US Open campaign

Wyndham Clark will look to extend his four-shot lead at the U.S. Open on Saturday, heading into the third round alongside 2022 champion Matt Fitzpatrick at Shinnecock Hills.

Wyndham Clark will ​look to pad his four-shot lead ​in the third round of ‌the U.S. ​Open at Shinnecock Hills on Saturday after a stellar start on the famously trick course in Southampton. The 2023 champion ‌Clark, who was seven under par at the halfway point, will head out at 3:45 p.m. ET (1945 GMT) alongside the 2022 winner Matt Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick shared the second spot on the ‌leaderboard after Friday with twice major winner Xander Schauffele, Sam Stevens and Tom Kim, ‌with a three-under-par performance through 36 holes. Americans Schauffele and Stevens form the penultimate pairing that tees off at 3:34 p.m. ET, while South Korea's Kim plays alongside two-times major winner Collin Morikawa of the United States ⁠at ​3:23 p.m. ET.

Lurking seven ⁠strokes back after Friday at even-par, world number one Scottie Scheffler will hope to keep alive his bid ⁠for a career Grand Slam at 2:01 p.m. ET with his compatriot Brian Harman. The early ​pairings got underway on Saturday morning after two days of tough, windy conditions that ⁠tested some of the field's most experienced competitors, including former champion Brooks Koepka, who made the cut at ⁠his ​last 11 U.S. Open starts but did not reach the weekend this time around. The cut came in at four over par, with 67 professionals and five amateurs ⁠advancing. Clark, who is looking to turn the page on an embarrassing locker room incident at ⁠last year's tournament, ⁠does not have history on his side as he sets out on Saturday: no second-round leader at the last four U.S. Opens ‌has gone on ‌to win the tournament.