U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying: The Road to Shinnecock Hills

June 4, 2018 | by Chris Brauner of AmateurGolf.com

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

SOUTHAMPTON, NY (June 4, 2018) - U.S. Open Sectional qualifiers will be held Monday around the country with 860 players (including over 200 amateurs) competing over 36 holes for 77 spots into the championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.

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.


Collin Morikawa, Shintaro Ban, Justin Suh

San Francisco, California >> RESULTS

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


Andy Zhang, Tyler Strafaci

Jupiter, Florida >> RESULTS

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

Roswell, Georgia >> RESULTS

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


Sean Knapp, Mark Lawrence, Jr.

Rockville, MD >> RESULTS

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


Theo Humphrey, Lloyd Jefferson Go, Stewart Hagestad

Summit, NJ >> RESULTS

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


Zach Bauchou, Kristoffer Ventura

Columbus, OH >> RESULTS

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


Kyle Mueller

Springfield, OH >> RESULTS

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

Portland, OR >> RESULTS

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)


Braden Thornberry, John Augenstein, Brad Dalke

Memphis, TN >> RESULTS

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


Matthew Wolff, Viktor Hovland, Chandler Phillips

Richmond, Texas >> RESULTS

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


Matthew Jordan and David Micheluzzi

Surrey, England >> RESULTS

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

The 12th Sectional Qualifier was held in Japan on May 21. Results >>

About the U.S. Open Final Qualifying

U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying: The Road to Shinnecock Hills

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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