Road to the U.S. Open: Duke

Durham, North Carolina

The Course: 

Duke University Golf Club is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design measuring 7154 yards and is home to the Blue Devils golf teams. This site tends to be filled with current KFT players because the tour's Raleigh event finishes the day before and many drive to Durham Sunday night. 

Highest Ranked Player in the Field: 

Alex Smalley, 114th in OWGR: Smalley is returning to his old stomping grounds. He graduated from Duke in 2019. Smalley has been streaky since the start of 2024, having made 50 percent of his cuts since then. But when he does make the cut, he turns it into solid finishes. 

46 events

23 Made Cuts

14 of those made cuts resulted in top 25 finishes. 

After contending for a good bit at the PGA Championship and fading on the weekend, look for Smalley to advance from the golf course he played plenty of in college. 

Other Big Names: 

‍Tom McKibbin, 123rd in OWGR: McKibbin hails from the same hometown as Rory Mcilroy in Northern Ireland. McKibbin is only 22-years-old but has plenty of experience. McKibbin has one win on the DP World Tour and multiple high finishes. In 2024, McKibbin earned one of the coveted 10 PGA Tour cards by placing high enough on the DP World Tour Order of Merit. McKibbin shortly thereafter signed with LIV Golf and currently plays on Jon Rahm’s team, Legion XIII.

‍Miles Russell (a): Russell is the top-ranked junior in the country and in the AJGA rankings. After receiving quite a bit of media attention from a top tier finish at the KFT’s event in Sarasota in 2024, Russell has played PGA Tour and KFT events since. In his last 8 junior/amateur events he has gone:

Win (Elite Invitational) Amateur

Win (Rolex ToC) AJGA

Win (South Beach International Amateur) Amateur 

3rd (Jones Cup) Amateur

Win (Carlton Woods) AJGA

Win (Junior Invitational) AJGA

4th (Terra Cotta) Amateur

7th (Taylormade Inv) AJGA

That any good?

Webb Simpson: Simpson is the 2012 U.S. Open Champion and the 2018 Players Champion. Simpson has recently dealt with injuries and has only played six PGA Tour events this season so far. 

‍Bill Haas: The 2011 FedEx Champion has struggled since being a passenger in a fatal car accident at the 2019 Genesis. This year Haas has played five events making one cut. Haas is just 15 starts away from 500 for his career on the PGA Tour. 

Other PGA Tour winners in the field include Nick Watney, Russell Know, Adam Long, Chesson Hadley, Ryan Armour, and others. 

Stories You Might Not Have Heard About:

‍Josh Rackley: Rackley, a 33 year old full-time teaching pro in Wilmington, North Carolina, has one of the most coveted wins in Northeast PGA of America history. 

Rackley won the 2015 Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic: an 18-hole event that rewards the winner with $100,000. He shot 2-under, went into a playoff, and won by birdieing the 3rd playoff hole. Life changing money in one day!

‍Harold Varner III: Varner now currently plays on LIV for the 4Aces team captained by Dustin Johnson. Varner never broke through for a win on the PGA Tour but has one win on LIV and won the Saudi International, an Asian Tour event. 

‍Mark Anguiano: I called Mark “the best player without status” for a long time. He dominated on the mini-tour scene, including wins in Canada, Colorado Open, and numerous Asher Tour events. He is now a father and is doing some teaching but don’t be surprised if he plays well. 

‍Bryan Kim: You might not have heard the name, but even though the field is filled with PGA and KFT members, he might be one of the favorites to get through. The Duke sophomore led the Blue Devils in scoring average and advanced to the NCAA Championship as an individual. Playing on his home course, he is among the favorites. 

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Scoring: 

‍https://cga.golfgenius.com/pages/5072541 

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