Five Cinderellas to watch at U.S. Open

The USGA accepted a record 10,187 entries for this year's U.S. Open. One will emerge victorious come Sunday afternoon at The Los Angeles Country Club (North Course).

It could be a superstar and established champion like Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm or Rory McIlroy. Or it could be someone like Olin Browne, Jr., or Kyle Mueller, or J.J. Grey, or Andrew Svoboda, or Christian Cavaliere.

Unfamiliar with some of these latter names? Therein lies the beauty of the U.S. Open, elite golf's most democratic event, where nearly half the field at LACC will be comprised of players who advanced through 36 holes of Final Qualifying in the past month, the event known as "Golf's Longest Day." Some had to first advance through 18-hole Local Qualifying, as well.

Think of Jason Gore in 2005, who played in Sunday's final group at Pinehurst No. 2 as a relatively obscure Korn Ferry Tour pro. Or Orville Moody in 1969, who won the U.S. Open after advancing through both Local and Final Qualifying. Or Francis Ouimet in 1913, who won at The Country Club as an amateur, literally the making of a Hollywood script.

Odds are, an "unknown" name will emerge on the leaderboard early at LACC, causing fans and media alike to scramble to learn more. How will that player handle the limelight? However it unfolds, intrigue will surely abound.

Here's a look at five U.S. Open qualifiers who could author a Cinderella story in Hollywood.

-- Kevin Prise

OLIN BROWNE, JR.

LOS ANGELES – Olin Browne, Jr. sat before a smattering of reporters and fielded questions Monday.

Yes, the mini-tour and occasional Korn Ferry Tour player will have a big fan club, including his wife (who is from LA) and their two sons, 5 and 8; his parents and sister; his in-laws; and friends from Pepperdine, 22 miles north of The Los Angeles Country Club.

And no, Browne, 34, never considered giving up on his dream.

“It's hard to not have those thoughts sometimes,” he said. “Especially when you're grinding it out on mini-tours and chasing Monday qualifiers. The Monday qualifiers are hard. You shoot a lot of good numbers and you're going home. I'd be lying if I told you that this is the only thing I've ever considered doing.

“It's the only thing I want to do,” he continued. “I keep improving, and that's why I keep doing it.”

Olin Browne, Sr., the three-time PGA TOUR winner who now plays on PGA TOUR Champions, and who won the 2011 U.S. Senior Open, held up his smart phone and took video as his son spoke.

“I just want him to enjoy the experience,” Browne, Sr., said. “I remember my first U.S. Open at Oakmont in ’94, and what a big deal it was. He’s been around the game forever. He’s caddied for me in the Masters Par 3 Contest. He’s caddied for me on TOUR. I would take him to the golf course when he was 4 years old, and I’d look around: ‘Where’s Olin?’ He’d be rolling down the hill off the back of the tee.”

Browne, Jr. had to make a 30-foot putt just to get into a playoff to advance from Local Qualifying at The Cape Club of Palm City (Florida). Then he shot 66-67 at Final Qualifying at The Lakes Golf & Country Club and Brookside Golf & Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, to secure a spot in his country’s national championship in his 17th try.

This, after stints on the National Pro Tour (2012), PGA TOUR Latinoamérica ('13), Korn Ferry Tour ('14), PGA TOUR Canada ('15 - '18), Korn Ferry Tour again ('19), and most recently (and most frequently) the Minor League Tour in Jupiter, Florida.

“It's a very good tour,” he said. “They have one-, two-, and three-day events, keep us competitive. I have some buddies. Adam Svensson has played a few; Eric Cole has played a lot out there. That's where I've been playing predominantly for the last few years outside of Mondays.”

Now he gets to test his game – which he admits once featured a lot of crooked drives – against the best in the world. Although Olin, Sr., who played in 12 U.S. Opens, has been having back trouble, father and son have been walking LACC together, plotting out a strategy.

“I think I've been to almost all of his U.S. Opens,” Browne, Jr., said, “so it's nice to be on this side of the ropes and have him on the outside for once. But he's helped me a lot, trying to get me to understand just how much the course will change from now to Thursday and then on to the weekend.

“So mostly it's been stuff like that, potential pin placements, what to be prepared for,” he added.

Is he happy with his tee times for the first two rounds?

“I’m just happy to have a tee time,” he said.

-- Cameron Morfit

KYLE MUELLER

The 2018 University of Michigan graduate, who has yet to crack the top 1,000 on the Official World Golf Ranking, played four PGA TOUR Canada events last season. He made zero cuts.

Now Mueller, 27, is set to compete at the U.S. Open.

Mueller secured one of three available spots at Georgia’s Final Qualifying site, earning a swift jump from the minor leagues to the national championship. He won the GPro Tour’s Challenge at Belle Meade last month, earning $10,000 for a three-day, 15-under effort, in addition to eight playoff holes. Now he’ll compete against the world’s best for (ideally) four days at LACC.

Mueller’s road has been marred by tragedy; his mother Monica died in a single-car accident in summer 2016 while traveling to watch him compete at the Players Amateur in Hilton Head -- just weeks after he competed at the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont as a rising college junior. That was his only TOUR start before this week.

Monica was a veterinarian who founded Good Hands Veterinarian Hospital in 2001; in honor of his mom, Kyle utilizes an acronym PACE – Positive Attitude Changes Everything. That mantra has surely served him well through the often-vexing cycle of professional golf.

Mueller, a native of Athens, Georgia, has also made 23 starts on PGA TOUR Canada, highlighted by a runner-up at the 2019 Mackenzie Investments Open. Last year might have been a struggle, but sometimes in golf, all it takes is one week to turn things around.

He hopes this can be the week.

-- Kevin Prise

J.J. GREY

The 29-year-old Englishman made just five Korn Ferry Tour cuts last season, losing status and falling back to the vagaries of mini-tours. He has never featured higher than 1,685th on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Now the Georgia State alum is headed to LACC, having finished in a two-way T2 at Georgia’s Final Qualifying site, where just three spots were available. He’ll be the first from his alma mater to compete in a U.S. Open; Grey graduated in 2016 and took nearly a year off from professional golf in 2018 -- he and his wife Kitan had their first child, and she was completing law school and studying for the bar exam.

After securing his spot at LACC via Final Qualifying, Grey grew emotional when discussing the loss of his close friend and college teammate Sam Asbury to suicide in 2020. Asbury’s family has since contributed to funding Grey’s career.

“I write his initials on my ball,” Grey said. “I wouldn’t be here without him and his parents. I miss him.”

Asbury’s presence will certainly be felt at LACC.

-- Kevin Prise

ANDREW SVOBODA

In a past life, Svoboda was a full-time touring professional, and an accomplished one at that. The St. John’s alum won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour, most recently in 2016, and played the PGA TOUR from 2013-15.

Now 43, Svoboda has moved away from the full-time grind but has stayed immersed in the game on the teaching side. Now a PGA of America professional, he teaches out of Great River GC in Milford, Connecticut, offering both private lessons and playing lessons. He won last month’s Connecticut PGA Championship – earning a spot in the Travelers Championship – before advancing to LACC via Final Qualifying in New Jersey.

His game is certainly in good form, and perhaps he’ll draw inspiration from the showing of California teaching pro Michael Block at last month’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill, where Block, a fellow mid-40s golf lifer, finished T15.

This marks Svoboda’s fifth U.S. Open appearance but first since 2013, back when he competed full-time. He’ll be sure to relish the experience, and maybe he’ll author a Hollywood script along the way.

-- Kevin Prise

CHRISTIAN CAVALIERE

As a standout collegiate player at Boston College from 2016-20, Cavaliere looked to be on the fast track to professional golf. He won three straight Westchester Amateur Championships, the third title coming at Winged Foot, and recorded a sub-72 scoring average as a junior (his senior season was shortened due to the COVID pandemic).

Then the pandemic fostered a divergent career path.

As a college student, Cavaliere made and sold custom hats from his dorm to earn spending money, and the proficient sewer doubled down on this side hustle as he returned home during the pandemic’s peak. The hat business expanded to headcovers – prototypes were devised on his mom’s sewing machine – and a company was born. Tremont Sporting Co. specializes in customized headcovers and all leather goods associated with golf, such as yardage books, alignment covers and Dopp kits. Hats are also still a part of the inventory.

Golf remains Cavaliere’s passion -- he describes himself as a “neurotic swing technique guy” – but Tremont is growing and he’s intent on seeing it through.

In the meantime, he’ll take this week off from his day job, having qualified to compete at LACC via New Jersey’s Final Qualifying site.

Read more on Cavaliere here.

-- Jeff Eisenband