“I still feel like I’m in with a decent chance”— McIlroy seven back at US Open
Rory McIlroy plays his tee shot on the eighth hole during the second round of the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y. on Friday, June 19, 2026. (Kathryn Riley/USGA
Rory McIlroy might have paid the price for some over-aggressive play, but he believes Shinnecock Hills is so punishing that he can come from seven shots off the pace to win his second US Open.
The Masters champion got to within four shots of leader Wyndham Clark after a two-under-par front nine on another blustery day on Long Island.
But while he endured a rollercoaster trip home, dropping three shots in a row from the 10th before following birdies at the next two holes with a double bogey at the 15th to shoot a one-over 71, he wasn’t pushing any panic buttons.
“I think Brooks [Koepka] was pretty far back [five shots] going into the weekend in 2018,” said the Co Down man, who shares 11th place with the likes of world number one Scottie Scheffler on level par, seven strokes adrift of the 2023 champion Clark.
“So if there's a course where you feel like you still have a chance if you're seven back going into the weekend, like I am, it's definitely this.”
Clark was impressive over the first two days, completing the last two holes of a six-under 64 in the morning before adding a 69 in the afternoon to lead by four strokes from Matt Fitzpatrick (67-70), Xander Schauffele (71-66), Sam Stevens (69-69) and Tom Kim (70-67) on seven-under.
Collin Morikawa putted well to follow a 73 with a 65 to sit alone in sixth on two-under with Justin Thomas, Harry Higgs and Sam Burns six back after 68s.
McIlroy finds himself in an 11-man logjam on level par and insists his strategy of playing for the middle of greens and taking his chances with the putter is ideal here.
“When you're chasing, it sounds counterintuitive, but for me, if I can limit my mistakes, I know that everyone else in the field is going to make bogeys,” he said.
“So if I can limit my mistakes and pick off a few birdies here and there, and hole a couple more 20-25-footers than other guys, that's really the strategy.”
While he admitted he thinned his second over the back of the 10th fearing a soft lie in the fairway, he blamed over-aggression for the two bogeys that followed.
“Again, you can't go chasing pins around here,” he said. “You can't try to be too aggressive, because once you do that, today for me was a prime example.
“I was a little too aggressive to the pin on 11, a little too aggressive to the pin on 12. All of a sudden, just two bogeys in a row out of nowhere.
“So I think I'll have to play smart, try to keep the ball under the hole, hit it into the middles of the greens, and take your chances when they present themselves.”
Ominously for the chasing pack, the in-form Clark heads into the weekend feeling he’s left shots on the course.
“I really felt like I could be in double digits,” he said. “But you know, the great thing about that is I didn't feel like I had my best, and I still am leading as of right now. Hopefully, I can bring my A-game on the weekend.
“My goals coming into this week was if I shot even-par, I would hope I had a chance to win,” he said. “Things changed a little bit with conditions and whatnot, but yeah, 10 [under] was [my goal] coming into today.”
As for world number one Scottie Scheffler, who struggled with his iron play on day one but chiselled out a 72, the Texan shot 68 yesterday to join McIlroy in a tie for 11th on level par.
“I did a good job of keeping a pretty clean card today,” Scheffler said after hitting 15 greens in regulation compared to just nine on Thursday.
Like McIlroy, he knows that Shinnecock Hills will become exponentially more difficult over the weekend due to drying conditions and the ubiquitous wind.
“I think the wind definitely was the biggest challenge the first couple of days,” he said. “Looks like we're going to have some more wind tomorrow.
“Wyndham was able to handle it really well, obviously, the first couple of days, but as I said, the tournament is halfway done.
“I did a good job of kind of hanging in there the last two days, and hopefully start making a bit of a move over the next couple of days.”
McIlroy, who will play with Maverick McNealy today, was the only Irish player to make the four-over-par cut.
Shane Lowry shot a brace of 73s to miss out by two strokes while Padraig Harrington was 11 over after a 74 and Graeme McDowell a shot further back after a second successive 76.
They weren’t the only Major winners packing their bags.
Bryson DeChambeau, who has yet to make a cut in a Major this year, finished a shot outside the mark alongside Patrick Reed after a 75.
Jon Rahm missed out by two shots after a 78, Adam Scott (in his 100th consecutive Major) and defending champion JJ Spaun finished on eight over, while Brooks Koepka, the winner here in 2018, ended his week on 10-over after a 77.
ENDS
