U.S. Open sectional qualifying: A closer look

It’s one of the most interesting days in golf. Each June, hundreds of players compete for spots in the U.S. Open. The participants range from PGA TOUR winners to club champions. They all start on equal footing. Only their score, not their resume or name recognition, will determine if they get a tee time at Pebble Beach. Nearly half of the U.S. Open field will be filled by qualifiers, giving the Cinderella stories plenty of opportunities to compete in the year’s third major championship.

Qualifying started in May, but the bulk of the qualifiers were held Monday. Below are the results from all sites. (Note: x-won playoff; (a) – amateur).

JUNE 3
Brookside G&CC/Scioto CC
Columbus, Ohio

Luke Guthrie’s incredible turnaround continued at U.S. Open sectional qualifying. Last month, Guthrie was outside the top 1,000 in the world ranking and had earned less than $1,500 on the Web.com Tour. He’s finished in the top-6 in three of his past four starts and now ranks 43rd on the Web.com Tour Regular Season Points List. (Click here for more on Guthrie's day.)

He finished a shot ahead of two-time Presidents Cup participant Anirban Lahiri, who is 166th in the FedExCup standings.

Luke Donald, who is 181st in the FedExCup, qualified for his first major since 2017 and first U.S. Open since 2016.

Rory Sabbatini is the highest-ranked player in the FedExCup to qualify from this site. He is 54th in the standings.

Two amateurs qualified – Brandon Wu and Collin Morikawa. Wu was a member of the Stanford team that won this year’s NCAA Championship. Morikawa won the Pac-12 Championship and was the second-ranked player in college golf.

Qualifiers
1. Luke Guthrie, 67-64
2. Anirban Lahiri, 65-67
3. Sam Saunders, 69-64
4. Jhonattan Vegas, 68-66
5. Rory Sabbatini, 69-66
6. Jason Dufner, 71-65
T7. Chesson Hadley, 68-69
T7. Erik Van Rooyen, 64-73
T7. Luke Donald, 71-66
T7. Aaron Baddeley, 67-70
T7. a-Brandon Wu, 70-67
T7. Ryan Fox, 67-70
T7. a-Collin Morikawa, 66-71
T7. Kyoung-Hoon Lee, 69-68

1st alt. Joel Dahmen, 67-71
2nd alt. Kyle Jones, 65-73

Notables
MC. Cameron Champ, 68-70
MC. Kevin Tway, 70-68
MC. Harold Varner III, 68-71
MC. Ryan Moore, 70-69
MC. Steve Stricker, 68-73
MC. Bill Haas, 69-73
MC. Max Homa, 70-72
MC. Pat Perez, 71-WD
MC. Bud Cauley, 75-WD

JUNE 3
Rattlesnake Point G.C.
Milton, Ontario

PGA TOUR pros Tom Hoge and Sepp Straka shared medalist honors in the sectional held closest to the site of this week’s RBC Canadian Open.

Hoge will be playing in his third U.S. Open while Straka will be making his first start in any major.

In a three-for-two playoff involving TOUR pros, Nathan Lashley and Alex Prugh claimed the two spots while Harris English settled for first alternate.

Qualifiers
T1. Tom Hoge, 70-69
T1. Sepp Straka, 69-70
T3. x-Nathan Lashley, 72-68
T3. X-Alex Prugh, 70-70

1st alt. Harris English, 67-73
2nd alt. Fabian Gomez, 69-72

Notables
MC. Padraig Harrington, 71-71
MC. Hudson Swafford, 70-74
MC. Austin Cook, 73-73
MC. Ricky Barnes, 77-71
MC. Ryan Palmer, 72-WD

JUNE 3
Woodmont Country Club
Rockville, Maryland

Former PGA TOUR winner Billy Hurley III and one of the Web.com Tour’s leading players this year, Joseph Bramlett, were among the qualifiers.

Hurley has finished outside the top 125 in the FedExCup in the past two seasons. He was 201st last season, and currently ranks 193rd. His lone top-10 came at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Bramlett, a Stanford alum, is 34th on this season’s Web.com Tour Regular Season Points List.

Qualifiers
T1. Billy Hurley III, 70-71
T1. Connor Arendell, 70-71
T3. Joseph Bramlett, 71-71
T3. x-Ryan Sullivan, 72-70

1st alt. Tee-K Kelly, 69-73
2nd alt. a-Mark Lawrence, 67-76

Notables
MC. Vaughn Taylor, 71-WD
MC. Erik Compton, 73-WD

JUNE 3
Springfield Country Club
Springfield, Ohio

Five spots were available. Four players tied for first, while the final spot was determined in a playoff.

Former PGA TOUR winner Brian Stuard tied for first with two Web.com Tour players, Zac Blair and Nick Hardy, and Chip McDaniel, who finished T5 in a PGA TOUR event (Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship) after Monday qualifying.

Stuard is 73rd in this season’s FedExCup. Blair is 52nd on the Web.com Tour Regular Season Points List, while Hardy is 170th.

Qualifiers
T1. Zac Blair, 67-67
T1. Chip McDaniel, 66-68
T1. Brian Stuard, 68-66
T1. Nick Hardy, 68-66
T5. x-Brett Drewitt, 67-69

1st alt. Joo Young Lee, 69-67
2nd alt. Lucas Herbert, 67-70

Notables
MC. Michael Thompson, 69-68
MC. Troy Merritt, 72-67
MC. Corey Conners, 72-70

JUNE 3
Hawks Ridge G.C.
Ball Ground, Georgia

PGA TOUR pros Ollie Schniederjans and Roberto Castro claimed two of the four available spots at Hawks Ridge.

Schniederjans, currently 162nd in the FedExCup standings, shared medalist honors with amateur Noah Norton.

Castro, 134th in the FedExCup standings, was two shots back with amateur Chandler Eaton.

Qualifiers
T1. Ollie Schniederjans, 68-65
T1. Noah Norton (a), 67-66
T3. Chandler Eaton (a), 69-66
T3. Roberto Castro, 68-67

1st alt. Jamie Lopez-Rivarola, 72-64
2nd alt. Joey Garber, 69-67

Notables
MC. Brandon de Jonge, 71-69
MC. D.J. Trahan, 71-71

JUNE 3
Big Canyon CC/Newport Beach CC
Newport Beach, California

Arizona State senior Chun An Yu was the medalist, earning his second consecutive trip to the U.S. Open.

He was the fourth-ranked player in college golf this season. He finished the season with top-3 finishes in three of his final four events, including a win at the ASU Thunderbird Collegiate and third-place finish at the NCAA Championship.

Former PGA TOUR player Richard Lee also was among the qualifiers, along with Hayden Shieh, a 2018 graduate of Santa Clara.

Former U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad was the other amateur to qualify at this site. This will be his third consecutive U.S. Open.

Andreas Halvorsen is eighth on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica money list.

Qualifiers
1. a-Chun An Yu, 64-67
T2. Hayden Shieh, 67-65
T2. Richard Lee, 64-68
T4. a-Stewart Hagestad, 68-66
T4. Andreas Halvorsen, 69-65

1st. alt. Miguel Tabuena, 67-68
2nd alt. Kurt Kitayama, 68-68

Notables
MC. Brandon Harkins, 69-68
MC. a-Isaiah Salinda, 71-66
MC. Cameron Tringale, 67-73
MC. Justin Suh, 67-74

JUNE 3
Wine Valley G.C.
Walla Walla, Washington

Eric Dietrich, a member of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, took medalist honors by four strokes.

In addition, Matthew Naumec, who also plays on the Mackenzie Tour, qualified along with amateur Spencer Tibbits.

Dietrich and Naumec will each be playing in their first majors.

Qualifiers
1. Eric Dietrich, 67-66
T2. Matthew Naumec, 69-68
T2. Spencer Tibbits (a), 67-70

1st alt. Alistair Docherty, 68-70
2nd alt Michael Putnam 68-70

Notables
MC. Kevin Stadler, 71-74

JUNE 3, 2019
Century C.C./Old Oaks C.C.
Purchase, New York

Wake Forest senior Cameron Young, who grew up in New York, took medalist honors by five shots to reach his first U.S. Open.

Another amateur, 31-year-old Matt Parziale, also advanced, tying with former Web.com Tour pro Andy Pope for second. Parziale tied for low amateur honors at last year’s U.S. Open.

Web.com player Rob Oppenheim beat PGA TOUR pro Kelly Kraft with a par on the second playoff hole for the final spot at Old Oaks. Oppenheim’s best TOUR finish came at the 2017 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am when he finished T-8. He’s currently 45th on the Web.com Tour points standings.

Qualifiers
1. Cameron Young (a), 68-69
T-2. Matt Parziale (a), 73-69
T-2. Andy Pope, 73-69
T-3. x-Rob Oppenheim, 72-71

1st alt. Kelly Kraft, 72-71
2nd alt. John Augenstein (a), 75-69

Notables
MC. Jim Herman, 74-72
MC. J.J. Henry, 75-71
MC. Gary Nicklaus, 76-74
MC. Johnson Wagner, 77-75

JUNE 3
Streamsong (Black)
Bowling Green, Florida

England’s Callum Tarren, who was the leading money winner on the PGA TOUR Series-China last year, earned medalist honors. Tarren is 70th on this season’s Web.com Tour Regular Season Points List. Tarren, 28, is an alum of Radford University.

Luis Gagne, who shared low-amateur honors at the 2018 U.S. Open (T48), finished second to earn a return to that tournament.

Mito Pereira grabbed the final spot. He is fourth on this season’s PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Order of Merit, thanks to six top-10s in eight starts.

Qualifiers
1. Callum Tarren, 68-64
2. a-Luis Gagne, 69-65
3. Mito Pereira, 67-68

1st alt. Tyson Alexander, 71-65
2nd alt. Jack Maguire, 70-67

Notables
MC. Jon Curran, 68-74
MC. Bubba Dickerson, 70-73
MC. a-Will Gordon, 76-71

JUNE 3
Walton Heath GC
Surrey, England

South Africa’s Dean Burmester won medalist honors by four shots to qualify for his second major championship. Burmester, who celebrated his 30th birthday Sunday, made the cut at last year’s U.S. Open.

Sam Horsfield, 22, finished second. He missed the cut in his first two U.S. Open appearances.

Thomas Pieters, who won the 2012 NCAA title at Illinois and played on the 2016 European Ryder Cup team, also qualified, shooting 136 to avoid a playoff by a single stroke.

Marcus Kinhult, 22, qualified for his second major. He won last month’s British Masters.

Qualifiers
1. Dean Burmester, 63-65
2. Sam Horsfield, 67-65
T3. Marcus Fraser, 66-68
T3. Clement Sordet, 67-67
T5. Matthieu Pavon, 68-67
T5. Lee Slattery, 65-70
T5. Marcus Kinhult, 71-64
T8. Rhys Enoch, 66-70
T8. Adri Arnaus, 67-69
T8. Justin Walters, 69-67
T8. a-Daniel Hillier, 70-66
T8. Thomas Pieters, 67-69
T14. x-Renato Paratore, 70-67

1st alt. Bernd Wiesberger, 68-69
2nd alt. Nacho Elvira, 66-71

Notables
MC. Lee Westwood, 71-69
MC. Andrew Johnston, 70-71
MC. Edoardo Molinari, 68-73

MAY 27
Kuwana Country Club
Kuwana, Japan

Kodai Ichihara, a two-time winner on the Japan Tour last year, took medalist honors after making 16 birdies in 36 holes.

Ichihara, 37, finished fourth on the Japan Tour money list last season after winning twice. His biggest victory came at the Dunlop Phoenix, where he beat a field that included Brooks Koepka and Hideki Matsuyama.

Shugo Imahira, who won last year’s Japan Tour money list, took the second spot. Mikumu Horikawa, who finished second to Ichihara at last year’s Dunlop Phoenix, took the final spot in a playoff over Chan Kim.

Qualifiers
1. Kodai Ichihara, 65-66
2. Shugo Imahira, 65-67
T3. x-Mikumu Horikawa, 67-66

1st alt. Chan Kim, 65-68
2nd alt. Hiroyuki Fujita, 67-69

MAY 20
Bent Tree CC/Northwood Club
Dallas, Texas

Two PGA TOUR winners shared medalist honors, while a former major champion also was among the qualifiers. Brendon Todd and Nick Taylor both won in 2014. Todd’s win came at the AT&T Byron Nelson, while Taylor won the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Todd was in second place halfway through the 2014 U.S. Open, but shot 79-69 on the weekend to finish T17. He made his only other U.S. Open start the following year. He has made six starts this year as he tries to fight his way out of a slump. He has two top-25s this season, his first since 2015. He’s 189th in this season’s FedExCup.

This will be Taylor’s first U.S. Open start as a pro. He played twice as an amateur, in 2008 (MC) and 2009 (T36). He shot a second-round 65 at Bethpage Black to set the record for lowest U.S. Open round as an amateur. Taylor is 111th in this season’s FedExCup. Last year, he shot a 63 in the final round before the FedExCup Playoffs to crack the top 125 in the FedExCup and keep his card.

Mike Weir will play his first U.S. Open since 2013 after shooting 69-67 in the qualifier. The 2003 Masters champion made the cut in the two previous U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach.

Scottie Scheffler, who is second on the Web.com Tour points list, also qualified. Scheffler, 22, has a win and two runners-up this season. He was the low amateur in the 2017 U.S. Open.

Qualifiers
T1. Brendon Todd, 65-66
T1. Nick Taylor, 66-65
3. Carlos Ortiz, 66-67
4. Julian Etulain, 71-64
T5. Scottie Scheffler, 68-68
T5. Mike Weir, 69-67
T5. Brian Davis, 69-67
T5. Matt Jones, 66-70
T9. x-Charlie Danielson, 67-70
T9. x-Austin Eckroat (a), 65-72

1st alt. Cody Gribble, 68-69
2nd alt. Jared Wolfe, 67-71

Notables
MC. Brian Harman, 68-70
MC. Mackenzie Hughes, 70-68
MC. Shane Bacon, 73-77