Pepperdine senior William Mouw (Conner Penfold photo)
Over 200 amateurs took part in U.S. Open Final Qualifying on Monday at nine sights around the country and Canada. Amateurs competed alongside professionals, including numerous PGA Tour winners and a few major champions, with the hopes of securing one of the 49 final spots to round out the 156-player field for the 122nd playing of the U.S. Open at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass., June 16-19.
The nine amateurs that qualified for the U.S. Open on Monday will join Travis Vick of the University of Texas (who qualified on 5/23 in Dallas) and five others who earned exempt status, Nicholas Dunlap (U.S. Boys' Junior champion), Austin Greaser (U.S. Amateur runner-up), Laird Shepherd (R&A Amateur champion), Stewart Hagestad (U.S. Mid-Amateur champion) and Kaita Nakajima (2021 Mark McCormack Medal winner). (James Piot, the 2021 U.S. Am champion has turned pro and will play the LIV Golf event this weekend in London.)
The last qualifier to win the U.S. Open was Lucas Glover in 2009.
Here's a round-up of which amateurs earned their way to Brookline on "Golf's Longest Day."
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The Club at Admiral's Cove - Jupiter, Fla. (
RESULTS)
University of Florida junior
Fred Biondi of São Paulo, Brazil hung on to the fourth and final spot at The Club at Admiral's Cove in Jupiter, Fla. After firing rounds of 72-67 (-3), Biondi had to sweat out the Tuesday morning finishes of Spencer Mellon (-2) and Christopher Crawford (-1) who had two holes remaining on their second rounds when play was suspended on Monday. When neither player was able to reach the 3-under mark, Biondi was onto Brookline.
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Old Oaks C.C. / Century C.C. - Purchase, N.Y. (
RESULTS)
Michael Thorbjornsen (L), Fran Quinn and Caleb Manual There were a lot of fireworks in Purchase, NY, where UConn golfer
Caleb Manuel shared medalist honors with former Rutgers/Oklahoma standout
Chris Gotterup, who recently turned professional. With Manuel and Gotterup through at 3-under 137, eight golfers were left in an 8-for-3 playoff, including including
Michael Thorbjorsen of Stanford and Virginia commit
Ben James. Thorbjornsen made a birdie on the second playoff hole to grab one of the three spots.
If you believe in omens, check this out.
As reported by GOLF Channel, Francis Ouimet, who won the 1917 U.S. Open as an amateur at The Country Club, and Thorbjornsen, a native of Wellesley, Mass., were both 20 when they qualified for the U.S. Open at Brookline and both golfers finished one-stroke behind the medalist in final qualifying.
This will be Manuel's first U.S. Open while Thorbjornsen will be competing in his second after making the cut last year at Pebble Beach.
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Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club / Wedgewood G. & C.C. - Columbus, Ohio (
RESULTS)
Texas A&M standout
Sam Bennett captured one of the 13 spots available in Columbus with a 8-under score of 135, which left him tied for fifth. After carding a 2-under 69 at the Wedgewood Golf & Country Club, Bennett fired a 6-under 66 in the afternoon at Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club, a score which could have been even lower if not for a double bogey on the par-3 17th hole.
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Springfield C.C. - Springfield, Ohio (
RESULTS)
Maxwell Moldovan Two Big Ten golfers,
Maxwell Moldovan (-5) of Ohio State and
Adrien Dumont de Chassart (-4) of Illinois, secured two of the eight available spots at the Springfield Country Club. Dumont de Chassart, the reigning two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, birdied his final hole to avoid a 6-for-1 playoff. Moldovan's Buckeye teammate,
Jackson Chandler, fired a 5-under 65 in the afternoon only to fall one stroke outside the cutline at 3-under.
Read more about the Springfield qualifier here.
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The Olympic Club (Ocean Course) - San Francisco, Calif. (
RESULTS)
Amateurs shined on the Olympic Club's Ocean Course, where Pepperdine's
William Mouw (-12) and the
Charlie Reiter (-7) of the University of San Diego finished 1-2 on the leaderboard. After carding a 4-under 67 in the morning, Mouw scorched the Ocean Course in the late afternoon with an 8-under 63, punctuated by a birdie on his final hole. It looked for the longest time Mouw's Wave teammate
Dylan Menante would be joining him in Brookline after the Pepperdine standout opened with a 5-under 66 on the Ocean Course. However, Menante could only manage two birdies to offset a double on the par-4 third hole en route to an afternoon score of even-par 71, which left him one stroke off the cutline at 5-under.
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Pronghorn Resort (Nicklaus Course) - Bend, Ore. (
RESULTS)
Ben Lorenz, who recently completed his sophomore season at Oklahoma, birdied the first playoff hole against
Ty Travis, a reinstated amateur who played collegiately at Boise State, to snag one of the three spots available at Pronghorn. Lorenz, a native of Peoria, Ariz. native was 1-under through 10 holes on his afternoon round before a going on a heater that carried him to Brookline. Lorenz rolled off three straight birdies on holes 11-13, parred 14 and then birdied 15 en route to an afternoon score of 67, which moved him to 6-under for the day. Travis managed to birdie his final hole of the day to join Lorenz at 6-under to get into the playoff.
Ansley Golf Club (Settindown Creek Course) - Roswell, Ga. (
RESULTS)
None
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Woodmont C.C. (North Course) - Rockville, Md. (
RESULTS)
No amateurs qualified from Woodmont Country Club, although 17-year-old
Josh Duangmanee, who has committed to Virginia for the fall of 2023, earned second alternate status at 2-under par.
Garrett Johnston takes a look at one of the rising young stars in the game.