U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying: The Road to Shinnecock Hills
6/4/2018 | by Chris Brauner of AmateurGolf.com
see also: U.S. Open Final Qualifying, Wellesley Country Club

LIVE SCORING: A closer look at the 11 qualifying sites and the amateurs that are 36 holes away from making the 118th U.S. Open
Related: FINAL: U.S. Open Local Qualifying Roundup
AmateurGolf.com takes a closer look at each of the eleven qualifying sites, with the key professionals and amateurs to watch on one of the more grueling and competitive days of the year.
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Collin Morikawa, Shintaro Ban, Justin Suh
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Courses: Lake Merced GC, Olympic Club (Ocean)
Field Size: 86 Amateurs: 34
Professionals to Watch:
Todd & Andy Miller (sons of Johnny Miller), Kevin Sutherland, Byron Meth (former U.S. Public Links champ, Max Homa (former Walker Cupper)
Amateurs to Watch:
- Collin Morikawa, La Cañada Flintridge, CA - Current World #2 who won last year's Northeast Amateur and was a member of the winning U.S. Walker Cup team
- Shintaro Ban, San Jose, CA - Current World #3 who won three college tournament this spring for UNLV
- Justin Suh, San Jose, CA - World #6 who won six college tournaments this year for USC
- Sahith Theegala, Chino Hills, CA - World #27 and winner of last year's Sahalee Players Classic
- Brandon Wu, Scarsdale, NY - World #32 and winner of last year's Porter Cup
- Alex Lee, Gold River, CA - winner of last year's Memorial Amateur
- Chun An Yu, Chinese Taipei - World #26 and quarterfinalist in last year's U.S. Amateur
- Jordan Miller, Anchorage, AK - The only player to qualify from the state of Alaska
- Thomas Lehman, Scottsdale, AZ - Son of former British Open champion Tom Lehman
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Andy Zhang, Tyler Strafaci
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Course: The Bear's Club
Field Size: 48 Amateurs: 14
Professionals to Watch:
Robert Allenby, Sam Saunders, Tyson Alexander, Cameron Tringale (former Walker Cupper), Cristian DiMarco (son of Chris DiMarco)
Amateurs to Watch:
- Andy Zhang, Winter Garden, FL - World #27 who won the SEC Championship and NCAA Southeast Regional for the University of Florida
- Tyler Strafaci, Davie, FL - World #44, grandson of 1935 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Frank Strafaci
- Claudio Correa, Chile - Winner of the American Athletic Conference Championship
Garrett Rank, Joseph Deraney
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Course: Ansley Golf Club (Settindown Creek Course)
Field Size: 43 Amateurs: 20
Professionals to Watch:
Gene Sauers, Scott McCarron, D.J. Trahan, Kyle Reifers, Tadd Fujikawa, Roberto Castro
Amateurs to Watch:
- Garrett Rank, Canada - #3 ranked mid-amateur and NHL hockey referee
- Joseph Deraney, Lexington, KY - #9 ranked mid-amateur who won the Carlton Woods Invitational and Timuquana Cup in the same week last month
- S.M. Lee, Dacula, GA - won the NAIA Championship by 8 shots
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Sean Knapp, Mark Lawrence, Jr.
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Course: Woodmont Country Club
Field Size: 53 Amateurs: 13
Professionals to Watch:
Billy Hurley III, Nicholas Thompson, Jason Gore, Rafael Campos
Amateurs to Watch:
- Sean Knapp, Oakmont, PA - reigning U.S. Senior Amateur champion
- Mark Lawrence, Jr., Richmond, VA - World #84 and 2017 U.S. Amateur semifinalist
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Theo Humphrey, Lloyd Jefferson Go, Stewart Hagestad
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Course: Canoe Brook Country Club
Field Size: 81 Amateurs: 27
Professionals to Watch:
Johnson Wagner, Dudley Hart, Abraham Ancer, Wyndham Clark, Ron Oppenheim
Amateurs to Watch:
- Theo Humphrey, Greenwich, CT - World #5 who was a semifinalist in last year's U.S. Amateur
- Lloyd Jefferson Go, The Philippines - World #36 who won last year's Dogwood Invitational
- Stewart Hagestad, New York, NY - #6 ranked mid-amateur who won the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur and was the low amateur in the 2017 Masters
- Scott Harvey, Kernersville, NC - #11 ranked mid-amateur who won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur
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Zach Bauchou, Kristoffer Ventura
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Courses: Brookside Golf & CC, Lakes Golf &CC
Field Size: 120 Amateurs: 30
Professionals to Watch:
Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Kevin Na, Russell Knox, Keegan Bradley, Martin Laird, Aaron Baddeley, Stewart Cink, Ryan Moore, Emiliano Grillo, Kevin Streelman, Nick Watney, Danny Lee, Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Davis, Patton Kizzire, Robert Streb, Harold Varner, Beau Hossler, Brian Gay, Ted Potter Jr., Pampling, Ollie Schniederjans, Erik Compton, Andrew Landry, Patrick Rodgers, Jamie Lovemark, Spencer Levin, Shane Lowry, Scottie Scheffler, Maverick McNealy
Amateurs to Watch:
- Zach Bauchou, Forest, VA - World #7 who won last year's Canadian Amateur and who was a member of the winning NCAA Championship Oklahoma State University
- Kristoffer Ventura, Norway - World #33 who was a member of the winning NCAA Championship Oklahoma State University
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Kyle Mueller
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Course: Springfield Country Club
Field Size: 65 Amateurs: 28
Professionals to Watch:
James Hahn, Doc Redman (last year's U.S. Amateur champion), Dylan Meyer, Corey Conners (2014 AmateurGolf.com Player of the Year)
Amateurs to Watch:
- Kyle Mueller, Athens, GA - World #9 who won three college tournaments this spring for Michigan, including the NCAA Midwest Regional
Course: Portland Golf Club
Field Size: 81 Amateurs: 18
Professionals to Watch:
Mike Weir, Tyler McCumber, Charlie Beljan (former U.S. Junior champion), Jack Newman (former U.S. Public Links champion)
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Braden Thornberry, John Augenstein, Brad Dalke
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Courses: Ridgeway CC, Colonial CC (South Course)
Field Size: 117 Amateurs: 18
Professionals to Watch:
Geoff Ogilvy, Retief Goosen, Steve Stricker, J.B. Holmes, Hunter Mahan, Aaron Wise, Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk, Matt Jones, Ben Crane, Scott Piercy, Scott Stallings, Rory Sabatini, Troy Merritt, Shaun Micheel, Arjun Atwal, Matt Every, Wesley Bryan, Harris English, J.J. Henry, Sam Burns, Norman Xiong (2018 Jack Nicklaus Award winner who just turned pro)
Amateurs to Watch:
- Braden Thornberry, Olive Branch, MS - World #4 (was #1 for nearly a year) who won last year's NCAA Championship, Jones Cup and Sunnehanna Amateur
- John Augenstein, Owensboro, KY - World #15 who won the Mason Rudolph Championship earlier this spring for Vanderbilt
- Brad Dalke, McKinney, TX - World #23 who made the winning putt as the Oklahoma Sooners won the 2017 NCAA Championship
- Hayden Buckley, Tupelo, MS - World #25 who won the New Year's Invitational and two college tournaments for the University of Missouri this spring
- Davis Riley, Hattiesburg, MS - World #38 who won the Olympia Fields Invitational and led Alabama to a runner-up finish in the NCAA Championship
- Grant Hirschman, Memphis, TN - World #48 who won the Big 12 Championship for Oklahoma
- Patrick Martin, Birmingham, AL - World #66 who won last year's Schenkel Collegiate for Vanderbilt
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Matthew Wolff, Viktor Hovland, Chandler Phillips
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Course: Shadow Hawk Golf Club
Field Size: 52 Amateurs: 21
Professionals to Watch:
Angel Cabrera, Cameron Champ, Steven Bowditch
Amateurs to Watch:
- Matthew Wolff, Agoura Hills, CA - World #16 who won the Phil Mickelson Award as the nation's best college freshman, and made the clinching putt for the NCAA Champion Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Viktor Hovland, Norway - World #22 who won the Valspar Collegiate and was a member of the NCAA Champion Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Chandler Phillips, Huntsville, TX - World #14 who won four college tournaments for Texas A&M this season
- Blaine Hale, Dallas, TX - World #60 who won last year's Cotton States Invitational
- Alvaro Ortiz, Mexico - World #68 who was the runner-up in this year's Latin America Amateur
- Braden Bailey, Groves, TX - World #70 who won the Arizona Intercollegiate for Baylor University
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Matthew Jordan and David Micheluzzi
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Course: Walton Heath Golf Club
Field Size: 120 Amateurs: 5
Professionals to Watch:
Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Thomas Pieters, Andrew "Beef" Johnston, David Howell, Paul Dunne, Edoardo Molinari, Thorbjorn Olesen, Marcel Siem, Richie Ramsay, Andres Romero
Amateurs to Watch:
- Matthew Jordan, England - World #12 who won this year's Lytham Trophy and last year's St. Andrew Links Trophy
- David Micheluzzi, Australia - World #42 who won this year's Master of the Amateurs and was runner-up in the Australian Amateur
- Todd Clements, England - World #62 who won this year's European Nations/Sotogrande Cup
About the U.S. Open Final Qualifying

Final qualifying for the U.S. Open Championship. Played at various sites across the U.S. on the Monday a week and half before the U.S. Open. There is also a qualifier in Japan and in England. 36 holes of stroke play at each site.
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