“They can't ask you if you're a garbageman, or a bean picker, or a driving range pro whose check is signed by a stripper. You qualify, you're in,” Roy McAvoy said of the U.S. Open in the 1996 film Tin Cup.
While there were no driving range pros who qualified this year (that I’m aware of), “Golf’s Longest Day” delivered plenty of compelling stories. Here are five of my favorites from Monday’s 36-hole qualifier, where hundreds of players competed across 10 sites for a spot in the U.S. Open.
Nick Hardy
Nick Hardy qualified for his first U.S. Open at Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ohio, at age 19 in 2015. At Chambers Bay that year, he made the cut and shot a 2-under 68 on Sunday to finish T52.
He went back to Springfield the following year and made it through again. Then in 2019. Then in 2022 and 2023. In both of those years, Hardy finished in the top 20. On Monday, the 30-year-old added a sixth successful Springfield trip to his resume.
Safe to say Hardy can recommend a good place to eat in that town.
“I’ve played very well at Springfield Country Club over the years. It’s been very good to me,” Hardy said after the round on the Any Given Monday podcast.
Hardy made 15 birdies over 36 holes and needed every one of them. One fewer birdie and he would have found himself in a 5-for-1 playoff. But Hardy took last week off from the Korn Ferry Tour to rest and prepare. He noticed a pattern: he made it through qualifying when he came in rested.
Hardy has been bouncing back and forth between the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour this season. The 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans winner (with teammate Davis Riley) has made only one cut in six starts on the PGA Tour this year and five of seven on the KFT. It’s been a challenging couple of seasons since the win, but he’s working on remaining more emotionally consistent. Getting into another U.S. Open is a big step.
“It just feels good,” Hardy said. “I feel like I played well and I got what I was here for.”
Ben Kohles
The 36-year-old closed out the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am with a four-shot win over Logan McAllister on Sunday. He was in Spartanburg, S.C., hugging friends and holding his children joyfully, soaking in the moment. It was the fifth KFT win of his career and moved him up to fifth on the season-long points list. But he didn’t have much time to celebrate. The mad dash to U.S. Open qualifying began before he even had time to change clothes.
Kohles was scheduled to compete at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., some 480 miles away. He packed his golf clubs, gave one last kiss to his daughter and drove to Charlotte, where he hoped to catch an 8 p.m. flight to Washington, D.C.
“It’s going to be a fun little night, early morning,” Kohles said as he packed his bag in the parking lot of Thornblade Club. “No rest. Don’t need it, riding high.”
If you thought you detected any sarcasm in his voice, you’d be wrong.
Kohles led the following morning after a 7-under 65 in Round 1 and closed with an even-par 70 to finish T2 at a site with four spots available. He tied with one other player. No playoff necessary. Phew.
Andrew Putnam
At Emerald Valley Country Club in Creswell, Ore., Putnam, who is 57th in FedEx Cup points this season, survived a nine-hole playoff. The Northwest site field is usually small, with fewer notable players. With only two spots up for grabs, there isn’t much margin for error.
The 37-year-old Putnam tied for second with Spencer Tibbits, who played in the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and made it to the final stage of DP World Tour qualifying last year.
Tibbits opened with a 66 in Round 1 but gave three shots back in the afternoon as rain pelted down sideways. After 36 holes, Putnam and Tibbits set off to battle for one spot. They played each other to a standstill through six holes in the late-summer darkness. Both competitors made bogey on the final hole of the day. 42 intense holes in one day was enough.
On Tuesday morning, Putnam prevailed on the third playoff hole of the morning with a par.
“Longest day in golf huh?! 45 holes later we got it done! @usopengolf here we come!” Putnam wrote on Instagram.
Putnam has one win in his career (which came at “golf’s fifth major,” the Barracuda Championship, in 2018). Now, he has his sights set on another major.
Marcelo Rozo
It’s hard not to root for Colombia’s Marcelo Rozo. Rozo and I were grouped together at the final stage of Q-School six years ago, and I’ve been a fan of his ever since.
The 36-year-old is a passionate player who takes nothing for granted. Rozo earned his PGA Tour card for the first time at Q-School last December, two years after recovering from serious wrist surgery that nearly ended his career. When he holed the final putt at Q-School, his eyes welled with tears.
Rozo has struggled with back issues this season on the PGA Tour and has made only three cuts in 12 starts. On Monday, he shot 66 in Round 1 at Lambton Golf and Country Club in Toronto. He was 3-under with three holes to play in Round 2 and figured he was right on the cut line.
After a bogey on No. 7 (his 16th hole), he rallied by knocking a 196-yard 6-iron to two feet on his 17th. A par at the last secured his spot at Shinnecock Hills.
His rounds of 66-67 allowed him to avoid an 8-for-3 playoff by one shot.
“It’s been a very fun year, but it’s been a tough one as well,” Rozo said to Golf Channel after qualifying, fighting tears. “What I’m most proud of today is the way I’ve been staying on it with a good attitude every day, fighting. But also just very grateful for everyone.”
Dylan Wu
It’s been three years since Wu qualified for the U.S. Open and he returned to his good friend Nick Hardy’s favorite qualifying grounds: Springfield Country Club. Wu had missed his last six cuts coming into qualifying.
Wu's brother, Jeremy, returned from coaching the golf team at DePaul University and would be on the bag in Springfield. Two years earlier, Jeremy had to abruptly stop caddying when a cancer diagnosis hit like a golf ball to the chest.
On Monday in Springfield, the dynamic duo was back together. Fittingly, at day’s end, Wu tied his buddy Hardy for the final qualifying spots.
Wu said having Jeremy back on the bag reminds him of confident days, when he won on the Korn Ferry Tour and earned his PGA Tour card four years ago. That was when Jeremy first started caddying for him.
“I’m glad I was able to qualify today, but he’s caddied over 125, 130 events with me,” Wu said. “No matter if he’s been on a break for three or four months, we have that familiarity. We read greens very well together, and I started putting better today.”
The two have been through a lot. Now the Wu brothers get to add another U.S. Open to that list.
“I’m just super excited to go to Shinnecock in a couple weeks and just glad today went my way.”
