The 123rd US Open heads to Los Angeles Country Club this week with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick set to defend his trophy against 155 of the best golfers in the world. However, for many hopefuls, the journey to compete at LACC this week began several months ago, with anyone below a 1.4 handicap index allowed to sign up for local qualifying between April 17 - May 22 with the chance to compete in LA in June.
According to the USGA, this year’s local qualifying saw a record number of entries, surpassing the previous record set in 2014 for the US Open at Pinehurst. 10,187 registered for the first stage of qualifying, an increase from the 10,127 seen in 2014 and only the second time it has exceeded 10,000.
The figure also represented the 11th consecutive time and the 14th time overall that the total number of entries for the US Open exceeded 9,000 with an exception being the 2020 edition where the field was all-exempt due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Local qualifying was conducted across 109 sites in 44 US states and Canada, with the top performers joining already exempt players at final qualifying, which took place at several courses across America, with other final qualifiers held in Japan and England.
Former European Ryder Cup player Ross Fisher was one of those who made it through final qualifying in England after shooting a nine-under-par 36-hole score at Walton Heath.
LIV star and Masters champion Sergio Garcia also came through final qualifying in Dallas, Texas, to ensure his spot in his 24th consecutive US Open, having missed out on automatic exemption due to his falling OWGR ranking.
The final chance to make it into the 156-man field this week came on June 5th, in what has been dubbed ‘the longest day in golf’. The occasion saw 900 players compete for the final 64 spots in LACC at 10 different venues across the US and Canada.
All these final qualifiers were 36-hole events with notable PGA Tour players such as Dylan Wu and Stewart Cink qualifying alongside LIV golfers such as Sebastian Munoz and Carlos Ortiz.
Many notable players did not make it through the final qualifiers, however, with the likes of Harry Higgs and 2016 PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker falling at the final hurdle.
PGA professional Michael Block, who made headlines for his stunning performance at the PGA Championship last month, was another who failed to qualify as he missed out by two strokes.
All eyes now turn to LACC with the first round commencing on June 15th.
