Everyone was chasing one man on a windswept Friday in the Hamptons as Wyndham Clark continued his extraordinary revival, posting the lowest 36-hole score ever recorded in a US Open at Shinnecock and carrying a four-shot lead into the weekend.

The 2023 champion backed up his opening-round 64 with a one-under 69 to reach seven under par, breaking the previous halfway record of six under set by Phil Mickelson and Shigeki Maruyama in 2004. Clark’s total left him four strokes clear of Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Sam Stevens and Tom Kim at three under, while Collin Morikawa hurled himself into contention with the day’s low score of 65 to sit alone at two under on a sun-splashed but blustery afternoon in Southampton.

Clark’s overnight advantage, built in a flash during unexpectedly benign conditions on Thursday evening before play was suspended for darkness, looked far less secure early on Friday morning. After returning to complete the final two holes of his opening round, the 32-year-old American saw his four-shot lead halved before reasserting himself. He survived a cold spell on the greens, missing a makeable par on the ninth and birdie chances at the 10th and 11th, but responded with a 29-foot birdie at the 13th before curling in another from 33 feet down the slope at the last to restore the cushion.

Only four players have carried a larger 36-hole lead at America’s national championship – Willie Anderson in 1903, Tiger Woods in 2000, Rory McIlroy in 2011 and Martin Kaymer in 2014 – and all four went on to lift the trophy.

“I really felt like I could be in double digits,” Clark said. “I turned not my best golf into a good day.”

Clark said he did not get to bed until nearly 11pm after Thursday’s late finish and was awake again at 4am to complete his first round before almost immediately going out for his second. By 1.20pm on Friday his work was done for the day, leaving him with an unusually long wait before Saturday’s scheduled 3.45pm tee time. On the agenda: “watching the USA win” against Australia at the World Cup, followed by dinner and a few rounds of gin rummy with longtime caddie John Ellis.

Twelve months ago Clark left Oakmont engulfed in controversy after damaging a locker following a missed cut, an incident that later resulted in the club banning him from its property unless he fulfilled a series of conditions that included paying for repairs and completing counselling or anger-management sessions. The episode came only weeks after Clark damaged signage by throwing a club during the PGA Championship.

“I’ve gotten a lot of grief since last year, rightfully so,” Clark said. “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.”

His form and confidence had also deteriorated. After emerging as one of the game’s most promising stars with victories at the US Open and Wells Fargo Championship in 2023 and another win at Pebble Beach the following year, the Denver native arrived at Shinnecock in search of consistency and desperately needing a result to revive his Ryder Cup hopes. Now he is 36 holes away from a second US Open title and a clean redemption arc.

Among Clark’s closest pursuers is Fitzpatrick, the 2022 champion at Brookline, who remained in the mix despite surrendering ground late and carding a second-round 70, while Schauffele surged into contention with five birdies and one bogey for 66. Morikawa’s sparkling 65 was equally significant, lifting the two-time major winner to two under after he began Friday nine shots adrift of Clark. That matched the largest first-round deficit ever overcome by a US Open champion, a record set by Jack Fleck at Olympic Club in 1955.

McIlroy, the Masters champion and world No 2, briefly climbed into a share of second place with birdies at the fifth and eighth. But he gave it all back and more immediately after the turn with three bogeys in succession, followed by a double-bogey on the 15th that left him at even-par for the championship and seven shots off the leader.

“The back nine was a bit of a battle,” McIlroy said. “I think [the afternoon starters] will feel like they got the rough end of the draw [with the conditions], but still feel like I’m in the tournament and in with a decent chance.”

Few players felt Shinnecock’s notorious volatility more brutally than Dustin Johnson. Competing on the final year of the exemption he earned by winning the 2016 US Open at Oakmont, the 41-year-old American was four under through 28 holes and one off the lead before a double bogey, two straight bogeys and a quadruple-bogey eight at the 15th – equalling his highest score on a single hole in a major championship – sent him crashing out of the picture.

Also out was Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 and 2024 champion, after rounds of 70 and 75 left him outside the cut line of four-over, marking the first time in his career that he has failed to reach the weekend in three consecutive majors. JJ Spaun’s second ragged round in as many days left him eight over for the week, ensuring the tournament’s two most recent winners were both gone by Friday evening.

Joaquin Niemann sprang perhaps the day’s most improbable turnaround. The Chilean incurred a two-shot unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for throwing a club during an opening-round 11 on the sixth hole, a calamity that included two lost balls and threatened to derail his championship. He answered with a second-round 65 featuring five birdies in six holes to reach the weekend at three over, becoming the first player in 97 years to make a US Open cut after recording a score of 10 or worse in one of the opening two rounds.

Meanwhile, McIlroy was joined at even par by world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, who pieced together a resilient two-under 68 to stay on the periphery of contention. The game’s two biggest names arrived at Shinnecock among the pre-tournament favorites and both are keenly aware that protecting a lead here can be every bit as difficult as building one. That history also suggests Clark’s work is far from done.

“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 one,” McIlroy said.

Only 10 players reached the halfway mark under par, but the grudging reprieve from Shinnecock’s harsher tendencies may prove temporary. The course’s poa annua greens are expected to firm up and become increasingly capricious over the weekend, while winds exceeding 30mph could further complicate proceedings on the treeless Long Island layout. The USGA spent much of the opening two rounds carefully managing conditions, watering and misting surfaces to ensure the setup remained a fair test. Over the final 36 holes, Shinnecock may begin managing the players instead.