Friday at Shinnecock now has a different shape for Rory McIlroy and the British contingent chasing the U.S. Open.
The first round was still unfinished when play was suspended by darkness on Thursday night, with the championship confirming a Friday restart and Sky Sports reporting that second-round tee times have been pushed back by 15 minutes. For UK viewers, that turns the day into a long, layered watch: unfinished business from the overnight leaderboard first, then a sequence of British and Irish contenders trying to turn position into weekend pressure.
McIlroy And Fleetwood Must Wait For The Evening Shift
McIlroy’s Friday round is now scheduled for 6.58pm UK time alongside Ludvig Aberg and Tommy Fleetwood, a grouping that already carried Ryder Cup flavour before the weather and light delays added another layer to it.
McIlroy opened with a one-under 69, good enough to remain in touch despite a bogey-bogey finish that took some shine off a round that had briefly threatened to become much better. That score has already been covered as a significant start, but Friday is the more revealing test. He will have a leaderboard in front of him, a delayed rhythm to manage, and a Shinnecock course that has already shown how quickly a round can change direction.
Fleetwood’s position is different but no less interesting. ReadGolf wrote earlier this week about Fleetwood’s Shinnecock return still carrying the memory of that 63, and this is exactly the kind of setting that asks whether old comfort can become present-day authority. He does not need a cinematic Friday. He needs control, patience and enough scoring to keep the weekend in view.
The Lunchtime Wave Has Real UK Interest
Before McIlroy and Fleetwood get moving, there is a strong early UK thread. Aaron Rai is due out at 12.34pm with Collin Morikawa and Jason Day, while Matt Fitzpatrick follows at 12.45pm in a group with Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland. Justin Rose is listed at 1.29pm with Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm, and Robert MacIntyre starts at 1.18pm from the 10th.
That is a proper stretch of golf for UK readers, not just a waiting room for McIlroy. Rai’s PGA Championship win earlier this season changed the way his major weeks are judged, and ReadGolf’s broader look at Europe’s U.S. Open chance at Shinnecock feels even more relevant now that Friday has split the contenders into such clearly defined waves.
Fitzpatrick has one of the best competitive memories of any English player in this field, because he has already proved he can win a U.S. Open when the game becomes narrow, awkward and mentally expensive. His Friday pairing with DeChambeau and Hovland will not lack contrast, either. Fitzpatrick’s value is in detail; DeChambeau’s is in force; Hovland’s is in the quality of the strike. Shinnecock is more than capable of judging all three.
Clark Still Sets The Morning Question
The unfinished part of the first round still matters. Wyndham Clark was six under through 16 when darkness stopped play, four clear of the main chase according to the overnight scoring reports. That means the day begins with a question before the second round properly finds its rhythm: does Clark simply complete a statement, or does Shinnecock take something back before he can sign?
ReadGolf’s overnight piece on Clark turning Friday morning into a U.S. Open chase still frames the top of the board. What has changed is the UK-viewing map beneath it. The championship now offers a lunchtime run of British and Irish interest, then a prime-time McIlroy-Fleetwood group with enough quality and tension to carry the evening.
That is why Friday feels so important. The U.S. Open has not settled into a simple leader-and-chasers pattern yet. It has delays, split waves, unfinished cards and a group of UK-relevant players with very different ways of solving the same Shinnecock problem.
By tonight, at least one of them should have told us whether this is still a chase or already a fight for survival.
