What a putt that is. Wyndham Clark take a bow.

But anything he can do DJ can as well. The former world number one tickles in a left-to-right putt for his fourth birdie in a row.

All of a sudden there's a little bit of separation at the top of the leaderboard.

Back-to-back bogeys for Shane Lowry. This is not going to plan for the Irishman.

Barely a reaction from Justin Thomas as his birdie putt on the 12th lips out. Those must hurt on a course like this though.

Xander Schauffele also in for par. Six to play. Sunset in an hour...

The last time Dustin Johnson led at the end of a major championship round was six years ago when he won the Masters.

But going back a little further to the 2018 US Open which was also held in this parish, Johnson was tied for first after the opening round.

He ended up in the outright lead 24 hours later before slipping back to finish third behind Brooks Koepka and Tommy Fleetwood.

But boy he looks in the zone at present as he whips a nine iron into 10 feet on the fourth.

Wyndham Clark also has a putt for three but is a good 10 feet further back and could well provide a decent read here.

Wyndham Clark gets back to three under in style. The American zips an iron into six feet and taps in the birdie putt. That was so simple.

But DJ responds. He is very much rolling back the years to 2016-2020 when he was a force on the PGA Tour and in the major championships.

The 41-year-old's booming drive and clip into three feet is rewarded with a third consecutive birdie and a share of the lead with Clark.

The weather forecast had been for gusts of wind to strengthen and reach 40mph as the sun begins to set in the New York sky. Instead, it seems as though it's not as bad as feared. The wind is still humming, it's just not quite as penal.

And that means a few more flags are being attacked and birdie putts are dropping.

Of course, as I type that, both Matt Fitzpatrick and Bryson DeChambeau fire into the heart of the fourth green and leave their birdie putts on the green.

Bob MacIntyre responds to missing an eight-footer by sinking an eight-footer.

Back to two over.

Scotland's Bob MacIntyre misses an eight-foot putt for par. Another dropped shot.

A tough round.

Justin Thomas had a hat-trick of birdies from the second hole earlier today. But since then the two-time US PGA champion has played serene golf.

A bounceback birdie on the fifth was followed by five pars. And the American has just rolled in a 25-footer for birdie on the 11th.

Playing partner Xander Schauffele narrowly fails to follow him in and the two are now locked together.

Aaron Rai will not like that. The Englishman takes three with his putter from 30 feet as he coughs up another shot. Ditto for Collin Morikawa, who gets the same result.

Shane Lowry has not made a birdie since the first hole. He needs to dig in and find some magic.

Instead it is another bogey.

He's been knocking on the door and Matt Fitzpatrick has kicked it down on the third.

And in some style too. That's a birdie from all of 40 feet. And suddenly we have a five-way tie for the lead.

Four of them are previous winners in Fitz, Wyndham Clark, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm.

The exception is Sam Stevens - the only one back in the clubhouse. He was out in the morning wave, which, at the moment, statistically played half a shot harder.

Bryson also gets down in three to move back into the red.

Jon Rahm's drive disappears into the heavy rough, but the Spaniard responds brilliantly. He hacks out into the fairway and then sticks his approach close to save par.

He looked in all sorts of trouble.

Jordan Spieth should have gone one better after a stunning approach shot, but he misses a five-foot putt.

Justin Rose makes bogey.

Xander Schauffele is going through a bit of a sticky patch. He finds the fairway on the 10th but overcooks his second shot, finishing around 50 feet from the hole.

His birdie putt pulls up five feet short and he can't hole the par try. Back-to-back bogeys and three in four holes moves him over par.

Wyndham Clark clips straight into the powdery sand on the par-three second and then his splash out stops way short of its intended target.

It leaves an 18-foot putt for par, which strays too far left and means his bogey-free round comes off the board.

Meanwhile, Dustin Johnson's approach skips in to eight feet and he slam dunks the putt in, to move level with his playing partner and into a four-way tie for the lead.

Matt Fitzpatrick is firing out there today. The Englishman pings his tee shot on the par-three second in to around 15 feet and comes within an inch of holing another birdie putt. Maybe the wind blowing the wrong way to topple it in.

Bryson DeChambeau with a great par saver, knocking in from 10 feet after finding a bunker off the tee.

Wyndham Clark has a load of lead tape on the bottom of his putter, which he reckons is among the heaviest used by anyone in this year's US Open field.

And it has served him well so far albeit he prods a birdie putt left of the cup up on the second hole.

His playing partner Dustin Johnson, makes a putt from a similar distance. The 2016 champion has only managed one top 10 finish at a major since 2022 and missed five cuts in that period but looks to be retuning to some sort of form.

It's a front-nine 35 for two-time major winner Xander Schauffele. He's a bit of a US Open specialist, having never finished outside of the top 15 in his nine appearances.

Could this be his year?

Well, he's done well to escape the ninth with a bogey after his double trip to the fescue. We last saw his ball disappearing off the front of the ninth green. It ended up perched nicely in more rough and he was able to clip his fourth shot to five feet and knock in the putt.

That could have been so much worse for him.

WOW!

Jon Rahm, take a bow. He was pleading for a bit of luck after leaving his tee shot short on the par-three 17th.

It doesn't matter in the end as he drains a monster 61-foot putt for birdie. Mega!

He's just one off the lead.

It's a third birdie in four holes for Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick, who is suddenly into the red. His second on the first hole arrowed in to five feet and he made no mistake from there.

Another par for Bryson DeChambeau but it's another bogey for Viktor Hovland, who is in danger of playing himself out of this.