2011 U.S. Open Qualifying Day

[Chilli Dipper]

Regional qualifying is underway at eleven sites across the country for players hoping to play their way into this month's US Open. Here are some of the day's storylines. [LIST] [*] Sixteen slots in the field are at stake in Columbus in a qualifier full of PGA Tour regulars fresh off of playing in the Memorial. Memorial runner-up Brandt Jobe has continued his good form, shooting 62 in the morning to lead the pack after 18 holes. Vijay Singh failed to make his tee time, meaning he will not be in the field at the Open (or any major) since 1994. Also not making his time was Gary Woodland, whose sixth place at the Memorial moved him to 41st in the world ranking, safely within next week's final cutoff for top-50 exemptions. [*]Ten players will make it in from the Memphis qualifier, where PGA Tour players are preparing for this week's St. Jude Classic. Sergio Garcia hasn't missed a major since the 1999 US Open, and he'll need a good day to keep that streak going. Shooting 68 this morning, Sergio is one shot out of a potential qualifying slot after 18 holes. [*]Ten slots are also up for grabs in Rockville, Maryland, down the road from this year's Open venue, and also where the Nationwide Tour just completed the Prince George's Open. [*]Three players will advance from the St. Charles, Illinois sectional, which includes several amateur standouts, including two-time defending Mid-Am champion Nathan Smith, 2009 Publinx champion Brad Benjamin, and 2010 NCAA champion and US Open co-low amateur Scott Langley. [*]The other co-low amateur from last year's Open, Russell Henley, looks to be one of three players to advance from the qualifier in Ball Ground, Georgia. [*]Charlie Wi hopes to be one of five players to advance from the Glendale, California qualifier. [*]Gary Koch will already be at Congressional as an analyst for NBC, but that's not stopping him from trying to be one of three players qualifying from the Vero Beach, Florida sectional. Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer's grandson, is also playing in Vero Beach. [*]Considering that major winners Tom Kite, Justin Leonard, and Todd Hamilton are all among those entered in the Dallas sectional, as well as numerous other tour regulars and teen phenom Jordan Spieth, the four slots at stake may be the toughest tickets for the Open to earn. [*]The remaining sectionals include four slots available at Summit, New Jersey; two slots in Springfield, Ohio; and four slots at Bremerton, Washington. [/LIST]

[jamo]

I saw the Vijay thing on golf.com ( http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2011/06/vijay-singh-to-miss-us-open-for-first-time-since-1994.html ), but they didn't really go into details. Did he pull a Furyk, or was it more of a deliberate thing?

[Chilli Dipper]

Vijay didn't attempt to qualify last year, either. The USGA granted him a special exemption then; they won't this time. I think he simply doesn't like the idea of playing 36 holes of flawless golf just to qualify, and would rather make the field on merit.

[Kieran123]

He said after the Memorial he wasn't going to play - so I assume he just didn't want to turn up and try and qualify.

He said he is frustrated with hsi game ( shot 65 on the final day though )

[Chilli Dipper]

It's interesting to see who is playing where today. For as many pros that either were raised or are currently living on the west coast, there aren't many notable names on the California sectional entry list. Same with the Florida sectional, although I understand wanting to avoid the humidity. What I want to know is, if the Springfield sectional is ostensibly for Midwestern weekend warriors to avoid being overwhelmed by top professionals in Columbus, how did Brian Davis and Seung-Yul Noh end up playing there?

[jamo]

Originally Posted by Chilli Dipper

Vijay didn't attempt to qualify last year, either. The USGA granted him a special exemption then; they won't this time. I think he simply doesn't like the idea of playing 36 holes of flawless golf just to qualify, and would rather make the field on merit.

Gotcha. But by signing up for the qualifying is that taking a spot away from someone else in qualifying? Sorry for all of the questions.

[BallStriker]

A few decent stories getting through qualifying to the U.S. Open....

Sergio Garcia...I was glad to see him tee it up and give it a run....possible sleeper in my opinion

Ty Tryon....qualifies for the second year in a row and from a very, very deep field too

Sam Saunders....even the biggest haters out there can't take this away from him

Russell Henley....this guy is not secret and keeps up the great play and qualifies again

Fred Funk....gotta love Funky, but Contgressional at 7500 yards....this ain't no 6400 yard champions tour layout

[Chilli Dipper]

Qualifying is now complete, and 63 players have their tickets punched to Congressional. The list of names qualifying for the US Open includes: GOOD STORIES [LIST] [*] Steven Irwin, whose father Hale won this tournament three times, advanced from the Glendale, CA sectional. [*] Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer's grandson, qualified in Vero Beach. [*] Fred Funk, from the Rockville, MD sectional, who at 55 will be the oldest player in the field, qualified for the second time in three years. He didn't need to qualify for last year's Open, for which he was exempt after winning the 2009 Senior Open. [*] Russell Henley, who tied for low amateur last year, qualified again from the Ball Ground, GA sectional. Henley won the Nationwide Tour Stadion Classic, played on his home course at the University of Georgia, earlier this year. [/LIST] POSSIBLE CONTENDERS [LIST] [*] Sergio Garcia has three top-ten finishes at the Open, most recently in the 2009 event. In the first major played after the death of Spanish great Seve Ballesteros, Sergio will be (at the very least) a sentimental favorite. [*] Webb Simpson is currently 15th in FedEx Cup points standings. He finished runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour in 2011, including a playoff loss at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. [*] Australian Mark Leishman, PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, finished tied for third at this year's Arnold Palmer Invitational. [*] Robert Garrigus is possibly the longest hitter on the PGA Tour. At a venue reaching over 7,500 yards in length, that power is a nice luxury to own. [*] Brian Gay is a poor man's version of World No. 1 Luke Donald. He doesn't hit the ball very far, but he leads the tour in driving accuracy and scrambling. [*] Recently turned 20, Korea's Seung-Yul Noh is already playing in his second US Open. Noh was a contender during the weekend at last year's PGA Championship. [/LIST] Qualifying is now over, but there are still two ways for players to make their way into the US Open field. Any player with multiple PGA Tour wins since last year's Open is automatically exempt, meaning players like Jhonattan Vegas, Carl Pettersson, and Stuart Appleby can still get in with a victory at this week's St. Jude Classic. Likewise, anyone in the top fifty of the World Golf Rankings not yet exempt will earn a spot in the Open field after this weekend, motivation for players like JB Holmes (54th) and Steve Marino (59th).

[Chilli Dipper]

Fred Funk....gotta love Funky, but Contgressional at 7500 yards....this ain't no 6400 yard champions tour layout

Funk shot the lowest winning score in USGA championship history in the Senior Open at Crooked Stick two years ago: 20 under par. That course measured 7,300 yards. I think he won't embarrass himself.

[Ben]

Here's the leaderboard for Oakmont in Glendale, CA.

http://www.ghintpp.com/SCGA/TPPOnlineScoring/Results.aspx?id=341

I have a few friends and acquaintances playing. Brian Locke for one, who actually made it through! My good friend Damian Yi did alright in the second round, but it wasn't quite enough to get him through. Justin Itzen, Dillon Dougherty, Mark Summerville, Ryan Keith, Peter Campbell, Eric Miechtry, all play on the Golden State Tour. Like mentioned above, Charlie Wi is the only big name who played in this field. Ben Fox is a local guy who plays on the Asian Tour.

Speaking of which, anyone have the leaderboard for the Ohio Regional? My friend Berry Henson, who has been kicking butt on the Asian Tour this year was playing there. I wanna see how he did! Found it, but I don't see his name? Anyhow. Wow, why anyone would choose that location is out of their mind. The field is littered with PGA Tour pros!

http://www.ohiogolf.org/html/tournaments_results.asp?tid=403&r;=liveTPP&org;=USGA&year;=2011

[Chilli Dipper]

UCLA's Patrick Cantlay chose the Columbus sectional because he was being honored at the Memorial as the outstanding collegiate golfer of the year, and he wound up qualifying ahead of most of the guys who actually played in the tournament! I imagine the marquee sectionals (Columbus, Memphis, Rockville) would be popular amongst the local qualifiers who don't think they have a realistic chance of qualifying, but dream of competing alongside the tour stars for one day. They might be able to brag about the time they played 36 holes with David Duval, and beat him by three shots.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by Ben

Here's the leaderboard for Oakmont in Glendale, CA.

http://www.ghintpp.com/SCGA/TPPOnlineScoring/Results.aspx?id=341

I have a few friends and acquaintances playing. Brian Locke for one, who actually made it through! My good friend Damian Yi did alright in the second round, but it wasn't quite enough to get him through. Justin Itzen, Dillon Dougherty, Mark Summerville, Ryan Keith, Peter Campbell, Eric Miechtry, all play on the Golden State Tour. Like mentioned above, Charlie Wi is the only big name who played in this field. Ben Fox is a local guy who plays on the Asian Tour.

Speaking of which, anyone have the leaderboard for the Ohio Regional? My friend Berry Henson, who has been kicking butt on the Asian Tour this year was playing there. I wanna see how he did! Found it, but I don't see his name? Anyhow. Wow, why anyone would choose that location is out of their mind. The field is littered with PGA Tour pros!

http://www.ohiogolf.org/html/tournaments_results.asp?tid=403&r;=liveTPP&org;=USGA&year;=2011

My wife and I went to this today.  For anyone who has never gone, it is a great time.  You get a lot closer to the action than at a tour event.

We didn't know any of the players but quickly met some of the parents and family of some players and that gave us a rooting interest.   We met the parents of the youngest participant, Andrew Bieber, who didn't qualify but at age 16 has a heck of a game.  We also followed another player who apparently grew up at the course and had a gallery of about 30-50 people at various times.  he didn't qualify either.  But his gallery was bigger than Charlie Wi's.

Oakmont is a very nice course - not too long (6923) but set up tough with quick tricky greens.  We saw some great shots and some real stinkers.  A good time was had by all.