COLOMBUS, Ohio — On a long day when everything seemed to go wrong, Cameron Young entered the five-way playoffs three of the last four holes, making a 12-foot birdie and earning his spot at the US Open in two weeks at Oakmont.
The drama headed from coast to coast, and even north of the border to Canada, with 47 locations available on 10 qualifying sites to fill the field considered the toughest test in golf.
Ricky Fowler was eliminated with a bogey, but Young advanced with clutch play.
Young was already endured a tough year, and was forced to qualify for 36 holes, birding a nine iron from 8 feet to 8 feet for birdies on the 15th to 16th par 5, and hit a wedge at the final hole to 18 inches to score a spot in the 5-1 playoffs.
“I feel like I’ve shown something to myself today,” he said. “I saw nothing in it for a long time today.”
The playoffs began on the 10th hole, with the young hit driver hitting the roughness on the left, judging his wedge completely below the hole 12 feet.
“I started the day from here 12 hours ago and made a 3. So I tried to do it again,” he said.
Eric Van Louen opened at Kinsale at 64 and had no issues going to Oakmont for the US Open on June 12-15. He rolled up six shots in front of the field. Other qualifiers were Bud Corey, Runt Griffin, Justin Lower and Harrison Ott, 2,651 in the world rankings.
Cauley is ranked 56th in the world and could remain in the top 60 after Canadians open and pass that category. If that happens, Chase Johnson will reach his first open of us. He won the playoffs of two alternative spots with Eric Cole.
In Springfield’s other Ohio State Qualifier, Zach Blair won a four-way playoff at the final spot, surpassing former PGA Tour player John Peterson, who retired to make a comeback as an amateur and then asked to return.
Four spots in Florida qualifying were not finished due to slow rain. In California, Arizona’s Preston Summer Hayes led three of the four qualifying rounds. The final spot playoff between Joey Herrera and Lucas Carper was scheduled to be completed on Tuesday.
Three of the five spots in Atlanta qualifying went to amateurs, with 17-year-old Mason Howell leading the way. The high school junior played bogey-free with an 18 under 126. Also in qualifying were Jackson Covrun of Auburn and Florida sophomore Tyler Weaver, who already had PGA Tour cards locked in.
Qualifiers in Toronto and North Carolina each offered seven spots. The PGA Tour will be held in Canada this week, while the Corn Ferry Tour will be on the Carolina Swing.
Denmark’s Sobyon Olesen and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo were among the seven Canadian qualifiers led by Kevin Vero on the field. Florida Junior Luke Clanton opened in the US as number one in the world amateur rankings. He gave up on the place and made his professional debut at the Canadian Open, failing to qualify for the Open.
In North Carolina, Zach Baucho led seven players who joined Oakmont. Bauchou was qualifying for Ohio two years ago, when he had his college roommate, Victor Hofland and a caddy the day after Hofland won the monument.
Most LIV golfers who tried or thought about it anyway competed in four spots in Maryland. Australia’s Mark Leishman has not qualified for the majors for the past two years since joining LIV, so he beat fellow LIV player Sebastián Muñoz to win one of four spots.
LIV players were originally on the Maryland field. The five didn’t put cards in when it was clear that it wasn’t unusual for tour players and it wasn’t going to be possible.
Matt Voight led two qualifiers in Walla Walla, Washington, to secure a kind of homecoming. He is an Oakmont caddy and is now an Indiana dentist.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
