News
Friday, June 5, 2009
Final Stop On Road To Bethpage Black: Sectional Qualifying
Two-time winner Lee Janzen is the only past U.S. Open champion entered in sectional qualifying. He'll play in Columbus, Ohio on June 8. (USGA Museum)
A total of 767 golfers will be vying for spots in this year's field at 13 sectional sites across the United States on June 8
By David Shefter, USGA
Far Hills, N.J. – For 767 golfers, the dream of playing in the 2009 U.S. Open Championship remains alive.
The qualification process began with a record 9,086 entries, with only 63 players fully exempt (12 more players became exempt on May 25).
Some 250 additional players were exempt from 18-hole local qualifying, which took place at 112 sites around the country over the past month.
And with international qualifying on May 25 in the books – 11 advanced in England and five more in Japan – it’s now down to the 13 U.S. sectional qualifiers on June 8 to arrive at the final field of 156 for the U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y., June 18-21.
Although their odds aren’t great, the fortunate few who survive the grueling 36-hole test will get the opportunity to compete alongside Tiger Woods and the rest of the world’s best at Bethpage.
Many of the higher-profile qualifiers will congregate in the two cities that host the final two PGA Tour events held prior to the U.S. Open: Columbus, Ohio, and Memphis, Tenn. Both sites are heavily populated with PGA Tour players and elite amateurs.
Among the 120 players teeing it up at Brookside Golf and Country Club and The Lakes Golf and Country Club in Columbus are Lee Janzen, a two-time U.S. Open champion (1993 and ’98); Tom Lehman, 1996 British Open champion; David Duval, 1989 U.S. Junior Amateur champ and 2001 British Open champion; and Davis Love III, 1997 PGA Championship winner . Amateurs Rickie Fowler and Kyle Stanley (both members of the winning 2007 USA Walker Cup team), 2007 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Cory Whitsett and 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Jack Newman are scheduled to play in Columbus as well.
Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Danny Lee of New Zealand will also attempt to qualify in Columbus after playing this week’s Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. Lee was fully exempt for the U.S. Open until he turned professional after his appearance in the Masters two months ago, where he failed to make the cut with an 11-over 155.
Two-time major champion John Daly, 1995 PGA Championship winner Steve Elkington, 2007 U.S. Amateur Public Links and U.S. Amateur champion Colt Knost, and 1984 U.S. Amateur champion Scott Verplank are among the 110 golfers competing at Germantown C.C. and Ridgeway C.C. in Memphis. Notable amateurs in the Memphis field are two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Tim Jackson (1994 and 2001), 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Danny Green and reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion Cameron Peck. Four past U.S. Amateur runner-ups are also playing in Memphis: Green (1989); James Driscoll (2000); Casey Wittenberg (2003); and Michael Thompson (2007).
In all, nine former U.S. Amateur champions, 39 past USA Walker Cup members, six U.S. Amateur Public Links champions, nine past U.S. Junior Amateur winners, four U.S. Mid-Amateur champs and two British Amateur champions are vying for a spot in the U.S. Open.
Among the 77 competitors at Old Oaks C.C. and Century C.C. in Purchase, N.Y., is George “Buddy” Marucci, the reigning USGA Senior Amateur champion and 2009 USA Walker Cup captain from Villanova, Pa. Marucci, a two-time USA Walker Cup participant, also captained the Americans to a triumph in the 2007 Match at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland.
At 57, Marucci is not the oldest sectional participant. That distinction goes to 59-year-old professional Jerry Tucker of Stuart, Fla., who is among 57 golfers competing at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Fla. Others playing at the Lake Nona sectional include 1978 U.S. Amateur champion John Cook and Tyson Alexander, the son of 1986 U.S. Amateur champion and current University of Florida golf coach Buddy Alexander.
The youngest sectional participant, 15-year-old Grayson Murray of Raleigh, N.C., will compete at Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, Ga. Also playing in the Georgia qualifier is 16-year-old Daniel Lee of Valencia, Calif., the third-youngest competitor and one of three players under the age of 17 to qualify for sectionals. Lee recently won the Thunderbird Invitational Junior in Scottsdale, Ariz., a prestigious American Junior Golf Association event.
The other under-17 golfer is Cameron Wilson of Rowayton, Conn. Wilson, who advanced to match play at the past two U.S. Junior Amateurs, will be trying to qualify in Purchase, N.Y.
Having a high school-aged player in the U.S. Open is hardly unprecedented. When the Open came to Bethpage for the first time in 2002, Colorado teenager Derek Tolan qualified, and a year later, fellow Colorado teen Tom Glissmeyer made the field at Olympia Fields. In 2006 at Winged Foot, 15-year-old Hawaiian Tadd Fujikawa became the youngest qualifier in U.S. Open history.
The sectionals will also have a sizable international contingent, with players from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, El Salvador, England, France, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Serbia, South Africa and Venezuela represented.
Matt Hill from Brights Grove, Ontario, recently claimed the 2009 NCAA Division I individual title as a sophomore playing for North Carolina State. Fernando Figueroa, a 25-year-old pro who played his collegiate golf at the University of North Carolina, will attempt to duplicate his feat from 2008 when he became the first player from El Salvador to qualify for the U.S. Open. Both Figueroa and Hill are competing at the NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio.
Eugene Smith of Glen Ridge, N.J., who was eliminated from the Golf Channel’s “Big Break: Prince Edward Island” series on June 1, is among the 36 golfers competing in Roslyn, Wash., at the Tumble Creek Club. Smith, the medalist at the local qualifier in Haworth, N.J., is in his sixth season on the Canadian Tour. Another golfer at that site is Canadian standout Nick Taylor, who won the 2008 NCAA Division I individual title as a member of the University of Washington golf team and represented his country at the 2008 World Amateur Team Championship last fall in Australia.
David Shefter is a USGA staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.
