The USGA, with the help of its Allied Golf Associations, Golf Canada and the PGA European Tour, conducted 10 U.S. Open sectional qualifiers on Monday, June 3, with more than 700 golfers vying for 60 spots in the 119th U.S. Open Championship, which will be contested June 13-16 at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links. The PGA European Tour conducted the 36-hole qualifier at Walton Heath Golf Club in England, Golf Canada conducted the first-ever sectional north of the border in Ontario, and various Allied Golf Associations conducted the eight sectionals in the U.S. Two sectionals were held on May 20 (Dallas, Texas) and May 27 (Japan), respectively, producing 15 qualifiers.
Here is a look at how things went on June 3:
COLUMBUS, OHIO
Brookside Golf & Country Club / Scioto Country Club (121 players for 14 spots)
- Qualifiers: Luke Guthrie, Anirban Lahiri, Sam Saunders, Jhonattan Vegas, Rory Sabbatini, Jason Dufner, Chesson Hadley, Erik Van Rooyen, Luke Donald, Aaron Baddeley, Brandon Wu, Ryan Fox, Collin Morikawa and Kyoung-Hoon Lee
- Notable non-qualifiers: Cameron Champ, Kevin Tway, Danny Lee, Harold Varner III, 2011 U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein, 2018 Latin America Amateur champion Joaquin Niemann, three-time USGA champion Ryan Moore, Cole Hammer, Steve Stricker, Bill Haas, Bobby Clampett, 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up Akshay Bhatia
- Kyoung-Hoon Lee birdied his finishing hole to move to 5 under par and secure the last available spot, forcing a group of seven players who were at 4 under par to compete for the two alternate spots. That playoff was won by Joel Dahmen, of Scottsdale, Ariz., while fellow Arizonan Kyle Jones settled for second alternate.
- Luke Guthrie, 29, of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., made only one bogey over 36 holes en route to earning medalist honors with a total of 64-67–131.
- Two amateurs – Brandon Wu of Scarsdale, N.Y., and Collin Morikawa of La Cañada Flintridge, Calif., advanced to their first U.S. Open. Wu helped Stanford win the NCAA Championship last week, and Morikawa was a member of the 2017 USA Walker Cup Team that was victorious at The Los Angeles Country Club.
- Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer, will be competing in his third U.S. Open.
- It will be the 14th U.S. Open appearance, and first in three years, for Luke Donald, a former World No. 1. He finished T-47 in the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach
- Quotable: “The U.S. Open is the best test in golf, especially at a golf course like Pebble Beach, where everybody wants to be. I’m at a point in my career where I want to play well in majors.” – Vegas
- Quotable: “I’ve played Pebble plenty, and I think my game really suits that place, and it’s going to be interesting. It’s a course I enjoy playing.” – Sabbatini
- Quotable: “After getting into Columbus after midnight and getting about four hours of sleep, I didn’t know what to expect. But I have been playing well, and I guess it just carried over. I told my wife a hotel might cost $1,000 a night, but I said it doesn’t matter, because it’s Pebble Beach and the U.S. Open.” – Guthrie
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO
Springfield Country Club (73 players for 5 spots)
- Qualifiers: Zac Blair, Chip McDaniel, Brian Stuard, Nick Hardy and Brett Drewitt
- Notable non-qualifiers: Troy Merritt, 2016 U.S. Amateur runner-up Brad Dalke, 2014 U.S. Amateur runner-up Corey Conners, Dylan Meyer
- Blair, 28, of Orem, Utah, shot back-to-back rounds of 67 to qualify for his second U.S. Open (he tied for 40th in 2014 at Pinehurst No. 2).
- McDaniel is a 2018 graduate of the University of Kentucky who started in all 12 events during his senior year, placing in the top 20 six times. He is making his first appearance in the U.S. Open.
- PGA Tour winner Brian Stuard is hoping to improve on his record in U.S. Opens. He has played in four previously but never made the cut.
- Nick Hardy is no stranger to qualifying, having gone through local and sectional to qualify for the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, where he finished in 52nd place. He memorably missed a putt for par on his 36th hole in that championship that moved the cut line from +4 to +5, allowing an additional 15 players to compete on the weekend.
- The only non-American to earn a qualifying spot in Springfield was Brett Drewitt, of Australia, who plays on the Web.com Tour.
SURREY, ENGLAND
Walton Heath Golf Club (Old and New Courses), (109 players for 14 spots)
- Qualifiers: Dean Burmester, Sam Horsfield, Marcus Fraser, Clement Sordet, Matthieu Pavon, Lee Slattery, Marcus Kinhult, Rhys Enoch, Adri Arnaus, Justin Walters, Daniel Hillier, Thomas Pieters, Merrick Bremner and Renato Paratore
- Notable non-qualifiers: Lee Westwood (missed by three strokes), 2005 U.S. Amateur champion Edoardo Molinari, 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Min Woo Lee and 2010 U.S. Open runner-up Gregory Havret
- Paratore, of Italy, survived a 5-for-1 playoff for the final qualifying spot, with Bernd Wiesberger, of Austria, and Nacho Elvira, of Spain, getting first and second alternate, respectively.
- Burmester, of South Africa, earned medalist honors at 16-under 128 a day after he turned 30 years old.
- Hillier, of New Zealand, was the lone amateur to advance. He was the stroke-play co-medalist in the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach (shot 67 at Pebble and 70 at Spyglass Hill), losing in the Round of 32.
- Sordet birdied his final six holes on the New Course to qualify.
- Kinhult, Sordet, Enoch, Arnaus, Walters, Bremner, Paratore and Hillier will all be making their first U.S. Open appearances.
- Quotable: “I guess it’s just one of those days when you roll out of bed and the putts go in the hole.” – Burmester
- Quotable: “This will be my fourth U.S. Open. At Pebble Beach, it’ll be like The Open [Championship] at St. Andrews. I’m really looking forward to it.” – Fraser
- Quotable: “I really wanted to qualify and to achieve it is beautiful. With five people in a playoff, I felt as though I had to birdie the first hole (he birdied the second to edge Wiesberger) or go home. I’ll prepare for it like any other tournament. I’ll probably go over on the Sunday [prior] to help with the jet lag.” – Paratore
PURCHASE, N.Y.
Century Country Club/Old Oaks Country Club, (73 players for 14 spots)
- Qualifiers: Cameron Young, Matt Parziale, Andy Pope, Rob Oppenheim
- Non-qualifiers: 2011 U.S. Amateur champion Kelly Kraft, 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion/2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champion Scott Harvey, 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Michael McCoy, PGA Tour winners Johnson Wagner, Jim Herman and J.J. Henry, and Gary Nicklaus, son of 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus
- Amateur Cameron Young, who just finished his senior season at Wake Forest, was the only competitor under par (4-under 137).
- Parziale, the 2017 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and co-low amateur in the 2018 U.S. Open, birdied four of his first eight holes at Century C.C. en route to a 2-under 69, then hung on with a 3-over 73 at Old Oaks to earn his second consecutive U.S. Open start.
- Oppenheim edged Kraft in a two-hole playoff for the final spot. Kraft is the first alternate. Amateur John Augenstein earned the second-alternate spot.
- Quotable: “To be able to hang on in the tough [afternoon] conditions, I was very happy with that. I love to get better and I love to compete at the highest levels, so I’m happy to be going back to the U.S. Open. I had a great year last year. That was so much fun, but that’s over. I’ve got to go out there and put the work in and try to be ready to play that golf course.” – Parziale
- Quotable: “I missed out in playing Pebble last year for the U.S. Amateur just barely. It’s not the way I thought I was going to be going back … but I couldn’t have asked for a better day.” – Young
MILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA
RattleSnake Point Golf Club, par 72 (37 players for 4 spots)
- Qualifiers: Tom Hoge, Sepp Straka, Nathan Lashley, Alex Prugh
- Hoge, of Fargo, N.D., and Straka, of Valdosta, Ga., shot matching 36-hole scores of 5-under-par 139 in windy conditions to lead the way in the first-ever sectional qualifier in Canada. Lashley and Prugh advanced out of a 3-for-2 playoff for the last two spots. All four players compete on the PGA Tour and will play in this week’s RBC Canadian Open in Hamilton, Ontario.
- “More than anything with the wind, you just had to be in control of the golf ball,” Hoge told The Canadian Press. “It was the kind of day where if you hit the ball the wrong way the wind will take it all over the place.” Hoge, 30, is a five-year veteran of the PGA Tour who will make his third U.S. Open start
- Straka, 26, who was born in Vienna, Austria, and moved to Valdosta, Ga., at age 14, is playing his first season on the PGA Tour and will compete in his first major championship. His twin brother, Sam, who played with Sepp at the University of Georgia, missed out on Monday in his qualifying bid at Streamsong (Fla.) Resort.
- Notable non-qualifiers: Two-time PGA Tour winner Harris English (141) shot the low round of the day in the morning (5-under 67), but an afternoon 73 put him into the 3-for-2 playoff. He is the first alternate. Fabian Gomez of Argentina (142) is the second alternate.
- Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland missed the playoff by two strokes. Other notables who failed to qualify: Scott Langley, the co-low amateur in the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach; 2009 U.S. Open runner-up Ricky Barnes.
- David Hearn, 39, a native of Brampton, Ontario and a current PGA Tour player, was the low Canadian, missing the playoff by five strokes. Chris Crisologo, 23, of British Columbia, the low amateur in the 2018 RBC Canadian Open, was three strokes farther back.
- “Canadian golf is in a great spot right now; we've got a lot of good young players on the PGA Tour,” Hearn told The Canadian Press. “It’s pretty cool to be able to do this qualifier in Canada and I would’ve loved to have been one of the first guys to qualify out of Canada, but better luck next year.”
BALL GROUND, GA.
Hawks Ridge Golf Club, (67 players for 4 spots)
- Qualifiers: Oliver Schniederjans, Noah Norton, Chandler Eaton, Roberto Castro
- Schniederjans, the former No. 1 amateur in the world and a three-time All American at Georgia Tech, was joined as co-medalist by Norton, a rising junior at Georgia Tech. The pair shot 11-under 133, two strokes better than another former Yellow Jacket, Roberto Castro, and Eaton, a rising junior at Duke University, who took the last two spots.
- Schniederjans, 25, is in his third season on the PGA Tour and will play in his third U.S. Open. He tied for 42nd in 2015 at Chambers Bay and missed the cut last year at Shinnecock Hills.
- Norton, who is No. 134 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, becomes the second current Yellow Jacket in as many years to qualify, joining teammate Tyler Strafaci, who played at Shinnecock Hills. A rising junior from Chico, Calif., Norton is a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference player.
- Castro, who is in his seventh season on the PGA Tour, will play in the U.S. Open for the sixth time, and for the third consecutive year. He is seeking to play the weekend for the first time in the championship.
- Eaton, a native of nearby Alpharetta, Ga., had a bogey-free, 6-under 66 in the second round. The rising senior and two-time All-American finished tied for third with Castro. He locked up his spot with a six-birdie, bogey-free afternoon round, including a birdie on his 16th hole to seal his spot.
- Notable non-qualifiers: Jaime Lopez Rivarola, of Argentina, earned the first alternate; Joey Garber went 4 over on his last four holes and is the second alternate. Robert Karlsson, an 11-time winner on the European Tour; Alex Smalley, who played in the 2017 U.S. Open and has a Duke record 25 top 10 finishes; PGA Tour pros Brendon de Jonge, Jason Bohn, and 2000 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion D.J. Trahan.
- Quotable: “There are no words to describe it. Pebble is the closest major championship to my house. So it happens that this is my first major. Pretty crazy.” – Norton
- Quotable: “I knew I was good enough to contest. I started out bogey-bogey, but I stuck to my plan and didn’t waver. At the end of the day, I was successful.” – Norton
STREAMSONG, FLA.
Streamsong Resort (Black Course), (56 players for 3 spots)
- Qualifiers: Callum Tarren, Luis Gagne and Guillermo Pereira
- Gagne, 21, of Costa Rica, shared low-amateur honors with Matt Parziale in the 2018 U.S. Open, tying for 48th at Shinnecock Hills. Gagne, a senior on the Louisiana State University team, also advanced to the Round of 32 in last year’s U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
- Notable non-qualifiers: Tyson Alexander (missed by one stroke), Tyler Strafaci (missed by four)
- Alexander, 30, of Gainesville, Fla., is the first alternate
- Alexander is the third of three generations of U.S. Open competitors. His grandfather, Skip, played in six U.S. Opens, including an 11th-place finish in 1948. His father, Buddy, won the 1986 U.S. Amateur and competed in two U.S. Opens (1987, 1994). Tyson qualified for the 2009 and 2017 U.S. Opens through the local and sectional stages.
ROCKVILLE, MD.
Woodmont Country Club (North Course (63 players for 4 spots)
- Qualifiers: Billy Hurley III, Connor Arendell, Joseph Bramlett and Ryan Sullivan
- Hurley III, 36, of Annapolis, Md., has played in three U.S. Opens, with his best finish a tie for 48th at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014. Hurley, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and was the 2004 Patriot League Player of the Year, was a member of the winning 2005 USA Walker Cup Team. He rose to the rank of lieutenant and served on U.S. Navy destroyers and cruisers.
- Bramlett, 31, of San Jose, Calif., was the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Amateur when he competed at age 14 in 2002. Bramlett was later sidelined for two years due to lateral spine dysfunction and returned to golf in 2018. He was an All-America and All-Pac-12 Conference selection at Stanford University and earned his PGA Tour card in 2010. He has five top-20 finishes on the Web.com Tour this year.
- Notable non-qualifiers: Mark Lawrence (missed by one stroke), Denny McCarthy (missed by two), Garrett Rank (missed by two)
- McCarthy, 26, of Rockville, Md., owns four top-25 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2018-19. McCarthy, who was a member of the 2015 USA Walker Cup Team, has competed in two U.S. Opens and tied for 42nd at Chambers Bay. He was a three-time All-American at the University of Virginia and played in seven consecutive U.S. Amateurs (2009-15).
- Rank, 31, of Canada, became a full-time National Hockey League official in 2016-17 after working for several years in the American Hockey League. He competed in his first U.S. Open last year at Shinnecock Hills. Rank, who overcame a cancer scare at age 23, was the runner-up in the 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur. He has competed in 17 USGA championships.
- Tee-K Kelly is the first alternate, coming up short in a 3-for-2 playoff with Bramlett and Sullivan
- Lawrence, a semifinalist in the 2017 U.S. Amateur, is the second alternate.
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF.
Big Canyon Country Club and Newport Beach Country Club (99 players for 5 spots)
- Qualifiers: Chun An Yu, Hayden Shieh, Richard Lee, Stewart Hagestad, Andreas Halvorsen
- Amateur Yu, 20, of Chinese Taipei, will make his second straight U.S. Open start after earning medalist honors for a second straight year, posting rounds of 64-67 on Monday for a 12-under 131 total. He began to rise to the top of the field toward the end of his first round, playing holes 14-17 at Newport Beach Country Club in 5-under. The rising senior at Arizona State University missed the cut in his U.S. Open debut at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club with rounds of 76-81.
- Shieh, 23, of Fremont, Calif., started and finished strong on Monday, birdieing four of his first six holes and shooting 4-under 32 for his last nine holes of the day. The Mackenzie Tour-Canada competitor will make his U.S. Open debut. He played his college golf at Santa Clara University, where he was a four-time first team All-West Coast Conference honoree.
- Lee, 32, of Phoenix, Ariz., will make his second U.S. Open start. He missed the cut at Chambers Bay in 2015. He posted rounds of 64-68 on Monday, highlighted by back-to-back hole outs for eagle 2s during his first round on hole Nos. 13 and 14 at Big Canyon, from 96 yards and 115 yards, respectively. A product of the University of Washington, Lee has six top-10 finishes in 90 career PGA Tour starts.
- Hagestad, 28, of Newport Beach, will make his third straight U.S. Open start. The 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion had a roller-coaster start, making a double-bogey 7 on Newport Beach Country Club’s par-5 third hole, and immediately following that up with a hole-in-one on the par-3 fourth hole. He birdied four of his first five holes in his afternoon round at Big Canyon Country Club en route to a 6-under 66. The University of Southern California product was low amateur in the 2017 Masters and was a member of the victorious USA Walker Cup Team later that year.
- Halvorsen, 22, of Norway, will make his U.S. Open debut. He birdied five of his first eight holes at Big Canyon, and birdied his last hole of the day, the par-4 18th at Newport Beach, to avoid a playoff for the final spot. He has been competing on PGA Tour Latinoamérica since 2016, where he has two runner-up finishes.
- Notable non-qualifiers: 2018 U.S. Amateur semifinalist Isaiah Salinda, 2002 U.S. Junior Amateur champion and PGA Tour winner Charlie Beljan, PGA Tour professional Brandon Harkins, 2015 U.S. Amateur semifinalist Sean Crocker, amateur world No. 2 Justin Suh, three-time PGA Tour runner-up Cameron Tringale
WALLA WALLA, WASH.
Wine Valley Golf Club (55 players for 3 spots)
- Qualifiers: Eric Dietrich, Matthew Naumec, Spencer Tibbits
- Dietrich, 24, of Cheshire, Conn., earned medalist honors by four strokes with rounds of 67-66 for an 11-under 133 total. He birdied the first three holes of his second round to keep the momentum going. Dietrich, who will make his U.S. Open debut, played golf at the University of Connecticut, and currently competes on the Mackenzie Tour-Canada.
- Naumec, 22, of Wilbraham, Mass., will make his U.S. Open debut. The Boston College product birdied his 36th hole of the day to avoid a playoff for the final spot. He fired rounds of 69-68 for a 7-under 137 total.
- Tibbits, 20, of Vancouver, Wash., will make his U.S. Open debut. He shot 4-under 32 in his opening nine at Wine Valley and carded a total of 11 birdies during the 36-hole qualifier on his way to a 7-under 137 total (67-70). The rising junior at Oregon State University was an All-Pac 12 honorable mention in 2019.
- Notable non-qualifiers: Mackenzie Tour-Canada competitor Alistair Docherty (first alternate); six-time U.S. Open competitor and three-time Web.com Tour winner Michael Putnam (second alternate); 2016 U.S. Open competitor Matt Marshall; 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur quarterfinalist Joe Highsmith; PGA Tour winner Kevin Stadler