Format means the field is golf’s most diverse Herbie Aikens, a 30-year-old amateur from Kingston, Mass., was the first on March 2. Kevin Hayashi, 49, of Hilo, Hawaii, was the last, 15 seconds before the 5 p.m. deadline on April 27. In between, more than 8,300 other players from 67 countries entered the appropriately named U.S. Open.
When 156 of them tee off in the 111th edition of golf’s most democratic event Thursday, they will do it near the epicenter of the free world at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, 12 miles from the White House.
They will play for arguably the most prestigious title in the sport, eligible to anyone with $150 and a handicap index of 1.4 or better.
| UP NEXT |
| First round |
| When » Thursday, 7 a.m. |
| Where » Congressional CC, Bethesda |
| TV » 10 a.m., ESPN |
“There’s something special about the U.S. Open,” said defending champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, the first European to win the Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970. “[Winning] was a great experience, life changing for all the right reasons.”
Whose life will change Sunday at Congressional’s famed Blue Course?
Will Phil Mickelson, a runner-up a record five times, finally capture his first U.S. Open? Will the world’s top-ranked player, Englishman Luke Donald, prevail? Will No. 2 Lee Westwood, also from Britain, capture his elusive first major championship? Or will a relative unknown etch his name in U.S. Open lore?
Because of its inclusive qualifying process, it’s the tournament that draws the most diverse field in the sport. Among the world’s elite players will be teenagers, college standouts, longtime amateurs, club professionals and mini-tour scramblers.
Consider Brad Adamonis, 38, who made it this year for the first time on his 25th attempt, the last man drafted into the field. Consider 16-year-old Californian Beau Hossler, who entered on a lark. Consider Wilmington, Del., teaching pro Michael Tobiason, Jr., who found inspiration and maturity after the death of his father last summer of bile duct cancer.
And consider Michael Whitehead, the replacement for injured icon and three-time Open winner Tiger Woods.
“Everybody keeps calling me Tiger’s replacement. I walk around the golf course, ‘Tiger’s replacement!’?” Whitehead said with a laugh. “I’m not Tiger’s replacement. I’m just the guy that got in when Tiger withdrew. Yeah, Woods and Whitehead in the same [newspaper] article. I’m glad he listened to his doctor this time.”
Whitehead, who graduated last month from Rice, described his college career this way: “I wasn’t very good in college, probably averaged 75.”
Whitehead is an example of why the U.S. Open has sparked underdog tales such as “Tin Cup” and “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” the true story of caddie Francis Ouimet, who won the 1913 Open.
On Sunday afternoon at Congressional, when the leaders vie on the back nine, it’s likely that Adamonis, Hossler, Tobiason and Whitehead will be back home watching on TV after missing the cut Friday night.
Whitehead was asked Tuesday what his next professional tournament would be.
“I guess it depends on how this week goes,” he said. “If it goes poorly it will be the Hooters tournament down in Pearland, Texas.”
