Here are the 13 amateurs playing in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot

9/17/2020 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Six earned exemptions, while the other seven were added through the World Amateur Golf Ranking

The U.S. Open is finally here.

Delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the USGA's biggest championship risked suffering the same fate as the British Open, which was cancelled by the R&A. But despite a strict travel quarantine advisory, the championship is going ahead at venerable Winged Foot Country Club in Mamaroneck, New York.

It will not be a true "Open" as the USGA cancelled all qualifying for the event in response to COVID-19. The field was filled entirely through exemptions and invitations, but to the USGA's credit they have honored the tradition of having a strong amateur component, with 13 amateurs among the 144 players.

Here they are, along with a profile and the way each made it to the U.S. Open, courtesy of the USGA:

John Augenstein

The Owensboro, Ky., native earned his first U.S. Open start by virtue of his runner-up finish in the 2019 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club's Course No. 2. Augenstein, a semifinalist in the 2012 U.S. Junior Amateur, lost to Andy Ogletree, 2 and 1, in the 36-hole final. Augenstein was scheduled to complete his eligibility at Vanderbilt, where he was a four-time All-American, this past spring, but COVID-19 prematurely ended the season. The NCAA then granted all seniors in spring sports an additional year of eligibility, and with no Q-School being held this fall for the Korn Ferry Tour, Augenstein elected to return to the Nashville, Tenn., campus for a final season. Augenstein still graduated with a degree in sociology and he posted a 69.95 stroke average in the seven tournaments he completed in 2019-20. Despite the shortened college season, Augenstein was still named the 2019-20 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, and he was a finalist for the Haskins Award, given annually to the country's top player. Augenstein posted a 2-1-1 record in helping the USA retain the Walker Cup last September at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England.

Ricky Castillo

The University of Florida All-American earned his first U.S. Open start by being No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of Aug. 19. Enjoyed an outstanding freshman season in Gainesville, despite COVID-19 cutting short the year. He was named the 2019-20 Phil Mickelson Award winner, given annually to the country's top freshman. Castillo, who posted a 70.08 stroke average in 21 tournament rounds this past season, also reached the semifinals of the 2020 Western Amateur and advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2019 U.S. Amateur. He also was a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award. He also was named to the USA Palmer Cup Team. His older brother Derek also was a Division I golfer.

Cole Hammer

The Houston, Texas, native earned his second U.S. Open start by virtue of winning the 2019 McCormack Medal for being the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Hammer burst onto the scene five years when he became the third-youngest competitor in U.S. Open history at 15 years, 9 months and 21 days. He shot rounds of 77-84 to miss the cut at Chambers Bay. But ever since that moment, Hammer has enjoyed a decorated junior/amateur career. Hammer and partner Garrett Barber won the 2018 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Jupiter Hills Club. Prior to enrolling at the University of Texas, he represented the USA on the 2017 Junior Presidents Cup Team. In 2018, he won the Azalea Amateur and Western Amateur, and advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach Golf Links and U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club. He also helped the USA to a second-place finish in the World Amateur Team Championship in the Republic of Ireland. Last year, he helped the USA retain the Walker Cup at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England, and also represented the USA in the Palmer Cup. The rising junior at Texas also helped the Longhorns finish as the runner-up in the 2019 NCAA Championship.

Takumi Kanaya

The 22-year-old will make his first U.S. Open start thanks to being among the top 7 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of Aug. 19. Kanaya held the No. 1 spot in the WAGR at the time of the deadline. This will be his third major-championship experience. The 2018 Asia-Pacific Amateur champion tied for 58th in the 2019 Masters, which included a third-round 68. He also missed the cut in the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Kanaya also represented his country in the 2018 World Amateur Team Championship and reached the Round of 32 in the 2019 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst, losing to current world No. 2 Ricky Castillo. Just days ago he was awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top player in the final 2020 World Amateur Golf Ranking, the first Japanese player to earn the honor.

Lukas Michel

The Australian earned his first U.S. Open start by winning the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur last September at Colorado Golf Club, in Parker, Colo. When he defeated Joseph Deraney in the 36-hole final, he became the first international player to win the U.S. Mid-Amateur, a championship for players 25 and older that dates to 1981. A native of Perth, Michel now resides in Melbourne. He attended the University of Melbourne, earning a Masters degree in mechanical engineering in 2017. Neither of his parents played golf; in fact his father, Ivor emigrated to Australia from communist Czechoslovakia in the 1960s. It was a neighbor who introduced Michel to golf. Growing up in Perth, he competed against the likes of 2016 U.S. Amateur champion Curtis Luck and 2013 U.S. Amateur runner-up Oliver Goss. He and Luck, who is a member of the Korn Ferry Tour, competed on the same high school team. Prior to winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur, Michel was a semifinalist in the 2018 South Australian Amateur and he finished sixth in the 2019 Australian Master of the Amateurs.

Andy Ogletree

The Little Rock, Miss., native became the third Georgia Tech golfer to claim the U.S. Amateur, joining Bob Jones and Matt Kuchar. He defeated Vanderbilt All-American John Augenstein, 2 and 1, in the 36-hole final at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club's Course No. 2 last August. That earned Ogletree his first U.S. Open start. Ogletree then helped the USA Walker Cup Team to victory in September at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England. Ogletree graduated from Georgia Tech this past spring as a two-time, second-team GCAA All-American and an All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer in 2019. He also represented the USA in the 2019 Palmer Cup. As a junior, Ogletree advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2015 U.S. Junior Amateur at Colleton River in Bluffton, S.C.

Related: Tournament Talk with Andy Ogletree

John Pak

The Florida State All-American earned his first U.S. Open start, thanks to being No. 7 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking at the Aug. 19 deadline. Pak helped the USA retain the Walker Cup in September 2019 at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England. He advanced to the Round of 32 in the 2019 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2, but missed the cut for match play in 2020 at Bandon Dunes. In 2019, he won the Atlantic Coast Conference individual title, one of seven collegiate titles for the Scotch Plains, N.J., native. In 2018, he was named the ACC's Freshman of the Year. He also was selected to present the USA in the 2020 Palmer Cup.

Related: John Pak tops first-ever PGA Tour University ranking
Related: AmateurGolf.com Feature Interview: John Pak

Eduard Rousaud

The Spaniard will make his first U.S. Open start after being No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of the Aug. 19 deadline. Rousaud advanced to the Round of 32 of the 2019 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2 before falling to current world No. 7 John Pak. He represented Europe in the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup and Continental Europe in the Jacques Leglise Trophy competition against Great Britain and Ireland in 2017 and 2018. Earlier this year, he finished second in the Portuguese International Amateur and won the Copa Andalucia and Campeonato de Barcelona Masculino.

Sandy Scott

The Texas Tech All-American earned his first U.S. Open start by being No. 6 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of the Aug. 19 deadline. Scott, a member of the 2019 Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup Team, is coming off a Round-of-32 showing in the 2020 U.S. Amateur, where lost a tight match to Davis Chatfield. Also qualified for match play in the 2019 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst. Scott opened his senior season last fall by winning his first collegiate event, The Carmel Cup, where he helped the Red Raiders to the team title. He also went 3-1-1 in helping Texas Tech win the Big 12 Match Play title.

James Sugrue

The Republic of Ireland native earned his place in the field by capturing the 2019 Amateur Championship at Portmarnock, 2 up, over Euan Walker. It was only the second time in 134 playings that the world's oldest amateur competition was contested at Portmarnock, and Sugrue took advantage of being at "home." Sugrue later represented Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup Match at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England. He also competed in the 2019 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst, falling in the Round of 64 to Walker Cup teammate Alex Fitzpatrick, 5 and 4. His Amateur victory earned Sugrue an exemption into the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, where he shot rounds of 71-73, but missed the 36-hole cut.

Preston Summerhays

Summerhays earned his place in the field by virtue of his 2-and-1 victory over Bo Jin in the 36-hole final of the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Summerhays comes from a family of golfers. His great uncle, Bruce, won three times on the PGA Tour Champions. His uncle, Daniel, won the Korn Ferry Tour's Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational as an amateur. He just recently retired from professional golf to pursue a high school coaching. His aunt, Carrie, is the head women's golf coach at Brigham Young University. His father, Boyd, was a standout junior/amateur golfer, earning American Junior Golf Association All-America honors four times. He was the 1995 Golfweek/Titleist Junior Player of the Year before playing for Oklahoma State. A herniated disc ended his PGA Tour career after 29 starts. He's now a noted instructor who not only works with Preston and his younger sister, Grace, but also PGA Tour winner Tony Finau. Preston's great-grandfather, Pres, was the head coach at the University of Utah and his grandfather, Lynn, was a past president of the Utah Junior Golf Association. Preston followed up his U.S. Junior Amateur victory by becoming the youngest champion of the Sunnehanna Amateur (18 years, 2 days) the same week he would have defended his Junior title. The 2020 U.S. Junior Amateur was canceled due to COVID-19. A high school senior in Scottsdale, Ariz., Preston has committed to attend Arizona State University in the fall of 2021. Last December, Preston represented the USA in the Junior Presidents Cup in Australia.

Davis Thompson

The University of Georgia All-American will make his first U.S. Open start by virtue of being among the top 7 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of the Aug. 19 deadline (No. 3). Thompson reached the Round of 64 in the 2020 U.S. Amateur, shortly after being a quarterfinalist in the Western Amateur. The Golf Coaches Association of America named him a ">first-team All-America. He was one of five finalists for the Jack Nicklaus Award and one of three finalists for the Haskins Award; both awards are for the top players in college golf. He also finished 23rd in the PGA Tour's RSM Classic at Sea Island Golf Club. He also competed in the 2020 Puerto Rico Open. He won the 2020 Jones Cup Invitational with a 54-hole, tournament-record score of 13-under 203. The win earned him a start in the 2020 RSM Classic this fall. Also named to the 2020 USA Palmer Cup Team.

Related: Davis Thompson No. 1 in Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Amateur Ranking heading into the U.S. Open

Chun An Yu

Will make his third consecutive U.S. Open start as an amateur after being among the top seven in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of Aug. 19. Yu was No. 3 in the WAGR. Yu shooting 12-under 131 to earn medalist honors in the Newport Beach, Calif., sectional conducted at Big Canyon Country Club and Newport Beach C.C. Was a quarterfinalist in the 2017 U.S. Amateur at The Riviera Country Club. Just completed his junior season at Arizona State, where he finished third in the NCAA Championship and posted eight top-5 finishes in 11 starts in 2018-19. He won the 2019 Australian Masters of the Amateurs Championship and finished 5th in the Australian Open. The Chinese Taipei native also won the 2015 Western Junior.

Related: The 2019 AGC Men's Player of the Year: Chun An Yu

About the U.S. Open Golf Championship

The U.S. Open is the biggest of the 15 national championships conducted by the USGA. Open to amateurs and professionals. Amateurs gain entry via USGA win or runner-up finishes while having the opportunity to qualify alongside non-exempt professionals...

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