Sam Stevens is not the headline name in the U.S. Open chase, but that is exactly why his Sunday at Shinnecock Hills is worth watching.
Wyndham Clark still owns the championship. The official U.S. Open picture after 54 holes has the 2023 champion six shots clear at seven under, with Scottie Scheffler, Sahith Theegala, Tom Kim and Stevens all grouped at one under. That gap is large enough to make Clark the heavy favourite, but Shinnecock rarely lets a final round become tidy for long.
ReadGolf has already looked at Sahith Theegala’s fresh Sunday chase and at the way Xander Schauffele has started to apply scoreboard pressure. Stevens sits in a slightly different lane. He is not carrying Scheffler’s history, Theegala’s popularity or Schauffele’s major-winner authority. He is carrying opportunity.
Stevens Has Earned His Place In The Chase
The danger with a six-shot lead is that every other story can be made to sound theoretical. Stevens has done enough this week to avoid that. He opened with a 68 after a double bogey on his first hole of the championship, then kept himself around the top of the board while Shinnecock turned increasingly awkward over the weekend.
That is not a small thing at this venue. Shinnecock asks players to accept frustration, flight the ball properly, miss in the correct places and keep their short game from becoming emotional. Stevens has stayed inside the tournament while more decorated players have been pushed out of the real conversation.
He also gives the one-under group a useful contrast. Scheffler is the world No.1 chasing the career Grand Slam. Theegala is the fan-friendly shotmaker trying to turn a major Sunday into a career marker. Tom Kim has the polish and nerve of a player who has never looked especially bothered by big rooms. Stevens is the player for whom this could alter the shape of a season and maybe a career.
Clark Still Controls The Terms
None of that changes the blunt truth at the top. Clark can play a disciplined final round and still make the rest of the field run out of holes. His work through the first three rounds has been built less on perfection than on recovery, particularly the par saves and late eagle that helped stretch his Saturday advantage.
That is why the chase needs more than one name. If Clark looks up and sees only Scheffler, the task remains clear. If different players apply pressure from different parts of the board, the championship begins to feel less like a duel and more like a closing examination.
Stevens matters because he can be part of that examination. Even if he does not win, a clean front nine, a posted number or a move into the top three would force Clark to manage more than the final pairing. It would also give Stevens the kind of major finish that changes how he is viewed the next time he appears near a leaderboard.
A Sunday With Real Upside
The U.S. Open often leaves room for a player just outside the obvious narrative to become central late. Stevens is in that position now. He does not need to carry the whole championship to make his Sunday significant; he only needs to keep asking questions long enough for Shinnecock to do what Shinnecock does.
Clark remains the story. Scheffler remains the threat with the most historical weight. But Stevens gives the chase another edge, and at a U.S. Open where one mistake can travel a long way, that is enough to make him more than a name in the logjam.
