Heading into the PGA Championship, David Puig thought he would need to take part in the Final Qualifying round to make it to the US Open.
Now, there is a chance he will not need to do that at all, and he may well be able to cancel his early tee time at Dallas Athletic Club on Monday morning.
The Spaniard is set to join the playing field on May 18 in Texas as part of US Open qualifiers, but there is another way for him to secure a spot at Shinnecock Hills.
Before the action began at Aronimink this week, Puig was sitting in 62nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). You have to be among the top 60 to gain access to the US Open via more traditional means, with the top 60 by Monday, May 18 and then also Monday, June 15, making it in.
If Puig can finish strong at the PGA Championship, he should find himself jumping well into the top 60 and landing a spot at the US Open, rendering his qualifier registration redundant.
It's hard to pin down exactly what Puig needs to do at Aronimink, but we'd say a top 20 finish would be enough to boost his ranking sufficiently, while even a finish inside the top 30 or 40 could push him in.
At the start of play on day three, Puig was T13 and looking like he would comfortably end up where he needed to be to avoid that 36-hole shootout at Dallas Athletic Club.
As things stand, he sits T23 and is just five strokes behind the leader, Alex Smalley.
Suffice it to say, he's going to need a strong showing on Sunday to put himself into a position where US Open Final Qualifying action isn't part of his schedule next week. The way he is going, it looks likely.
Another player who is looking to be in a far more positive place right now is Mikael Lindberg.
The Swedish golfer, who won the recent Turkish Airlines Open, was supposed to be playing at Walton Heath for US Open qualifying on Monday, but he's also currently T23 at the PGA Championship after shooting three-under on Saturday.
