Sports

Winners and Losers From Second Round of the 2026 U.S. Open: An Ugly Day for LIV Golf

By Tom Dierberger & Andy Nesbitt Sports Illustrated

We're on to moving day.

Thirty-six holes into the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, it looks like it's Wyndham Clark's tournament to lose. Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, will enter Saturday with a four-stroke lead after a historic opening two rounds.

While Shinnecock has been friendlier than expected with favorable conditions and pin placements so far, it hasn't been great to a handful of LIV Golf players. Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau struggled all throughout Friday's second round, and Joaquin Niemann didn't exactly help the league's PR by getting tagged with a two-stroke penalty for throwing a club.

The tournament's final 36 holes should be an even greater challenge as the USGA tightens the screws around the course. The 126th U.S. Open champion is going to have to earn it.

Following Friday's cut day that chopped the field from 156 golfers down to 72, here are the winners and losers from the second day at Shinnecock:

Winner: Wyndham Clark and Shinnecock's locker room

Clark made the cut, so he will not be trashing the locker room at Shinnecock like he did at last year's U.S. Open at Oakmont. Alright, unnecessary cheap shots aside, Clark has been tremendous. He shot a 64 on Thursday and 69 on Friday to enter the weekend at seven-under par, setting the U.S. Open record for the lowest opening 36-hole score at Shinnecock (133). If Clark can hang on and win, it'll mark a career first for him, as he's 0-for-7 in converting a lead after 18 holes into a tournament victory.

Loser: Joaquin Niemann

On Friday morning, the USGA handed Niemann a two-stroke penalty for throwing a tantrum on the 6th hole during his first round Thursday. Niemann kicked around sand and threw a club, which was enough for the USGA to consider it "serious misconduct" and bump a quadruple-bogey 9 into an 11. The LIV Golf star turned things around Friday, however, firing a five-under 65 to enter Sunday three-over par. According to The Athletic's Justin Ray, no golfer over the last 25 years has posted an 11 or worse on a single hole in a PGA Tour event and went on to make the cut. Until Niemann.

Winner: Xander Schauffele

The San Diego native is right at home at the U.S. Open. Since he first debuted at the major as a 23-year-old in 2017, Schauffele has never placed worse than T14. He's still looking for his first U.S. Open win, though, and is in position to fight for it this weekend, sitting four strokes behind Clark at three-under par through 36 holes.

Loser: Dustin Johnson and his trips to the beach

Remember this morning when DJ entered the second round in second place? It didn't last long. The two-time major champ shot a seven-over 77 to enter the weekend at three-over par. He was in the sand often on Friday and struggled mightily to get his ball out of there, twice flopping the ball from one bunker to another. Since 2023, Johnson has missed the cut in six of 11 majors and has just one finish above 23rd place. His career came to a screeching halt after joining LIV.

Winner: Justin Thomas

Welcome to the weekend, JT. Thomas's second round began with bogeys on two of his first three holes, but he locked in and shot four-under par the rest of the way to post a 68. It's the first time he's made the cut at the U.S. Open since 2022 at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., and his first U.S. Open round under par since the first round that year, too.

Loser: Bryson DeChambeau

Leading up to this week's U.S. Open, DeChambeau posted a photo of himself on Instagram with the caption, "Like this post if you think I'm going to make my first cut." The 115,000-plus people who liked that post were wrong. DeChambeau shot an even-par 70 on Thursday but limped to a five-over 75 on Friday as he flubbed many approach shots and never found a rhythm with his putter. Entering the U.S. Open, we considered this to be the biggest week of DeChambeau's golfing career. After missing the cut at the Masters, PGA Championship and now U.S. Open, it appears DeChambeau is more interested in growing his YouTube channel than being one of the best golfers in the world. He could complete the 2026 cut grand slam at the British Open in July. 

 

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Loser: Jon Rahm

Rahm seemed poised to make a run at Shinnecock after finishing tied for second at the PGA Championship last month. He got off to a hot start in the first round with a two-under 68 in the opening round, and it looked like the old Rahm was back. And then, well, he completely fell apart on Friday, shooting an eight-over 78 that left him missing the cut and looking for an early flight home. Just a brutal turn of events for a guy who's one of the best players in the world when he's on. He was off on Friday, and now he's really off this weekend.

Winner: Miles Russell

The 17-year-old phenom who recently graduated from high school will be playing golf this weekend at Shinnecock after making the cut with a one-over 71 in Friday's second round. That has him at three-over for the tournament. Pretty cool for a kid who will be a freshman at Florida State in a few months.

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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 5:15 PM.

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