Day heads mega one-day US Open qualifying

Local Qualifying has been going on across the US since late April and now, with just a couple of weeks to go before the 121st US Open Championship tees off on June 17, a Final Qualifying mega-day will decide the final spots available for golf’s third major of the year.

Nine 36-hole tournaments will be played across just one day on June 7th (US time) with 845 players currently poised to compete for the remaining teetimes.

Day won his sole major title at the 2015 PGA Championship (Credit: www.golffile.ie)

76 players are already exempt including six Australians – Matt Jones, Brad Kennedy, Marc Leishman, Wade Ormsby, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith.

Jason Day remains the biggest Aussie name to not automatically qualify with three missed cuts leaving him outside the world’s Top 60 at 69th. All players inside the Top 60 as of May 24th and June 7th qualify for the US Open. Six-time runner-up Phil Mickelson was facing the same indignity before winning the PGA Championship and moving from 116th to 32nd that week.

33-year-old Day will tee it up in his adopted home state of Ohio along with Aaron Baddeley and Cameron Davis. Baddeley has played in 11 US Opens with a best finish of 13th place in 2007 while Davis will be seeking his first start at the event.

US-based Western Australian, Karl Vilips, is also looking for his first major start. The 19-year-old Stanford freshman will try his luck at the Bear’s Club in Florida.

Another Western Australian, Min Woo Lee, already has some form in USGA events albeit not at the major level. Lee won the 2016 US Junior Amateur equalling his sister’s efforts in the same event in 2012. The 22-year-old has had an uneventful season on the European Tour with his best result coming at the British Masters where he finished 21st.

49-year-old Robert Allenby heads to the Long Cove Club in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina looking for an unlikely major start. The Victorian hasn’t made a cut in the US since the 2019 Puerto Rico Open in early February. However, the veteran Aussie does have experience on his side with 15 US Opens under his belt and a best result of 7th in 2004.

For those players on the European Tour, there’s still a chance for a spot. The top-10 leaders on the points list from the three-event US Open Qualifying Series (British Masters, Made in Himmerland and this week’s Porsche European Open) will earn a trip to Torrey Pines.

Jason Scrivener is the only Australian with a realistic chance, entering the European Open in 8th place on the qualifying points list and looks set for a US Open slot.