Beef Johnston, Alexander Levy headline U.S. Open qualifiers in England sectional

The U.S. Open field is beginning to fill up as 15 players qualified from the England sectional on Monday. 

U.S. Open qualifying is one of the underrated parts of the golf season, don’t you think? Watching scant highlights of pro golfers, some ranked in the top 100 in the world, teeing it up alongside your everyday Joes trying to live the dream is great. I wish these were televised. The players can even wear shorts here!

The marathon day of sectional qualifiers in the U.S. is still a week away, taking place on June 5, but the field at Erin Hills for the 117th U.S. Open is filling up fast as the Wisconsin course gets set to host America’s nationalship for the first time. There are ways that a golfer doesn’t have to through this grueling process of qualifying, such as winning the U.S. Open in the past or being in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking at a given time or winning a gold medal or a dozen other ways (seriously, there are 15 ways to be exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open), but not everyone has that luxury and therefore must go through extremely difficult local and sectional qualifiers to make it into the field.

Japan held the first of two international qualifiers on May 22 with Satoshi Kodaira, Yusaku Miyazato, Chan Kim and Shugo Imahira earning the four spots. That’s not exactly a who’s who of the sport, but the U.S. Open is known for its chasms between the world’s best and the sometimes unproven, little-known players gunning for the same prize. And on Monday, it was Europe’s turn to finalize their list of players who he’ll be heading to the U.S. Open.

Who’s in

At Walton Heath Golf Club, located in the village of Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, there was a little more “Beef” on the menu for the second of 12 total U.S. Open qualifiers — the remaining 10 will take place in the U.S. — as Andrew “Beef” Johnston, who finished 54th at Oakmont a season ago, and world No. 75 Alexander Levy headlined the 15 players that will make the trip to Wisconsin next month.

World No. 166, Englishman Aaron Rai, was the medalist after carding rounds of 66 and 64 to reach 14-under. The 22-year-old will be competing in his first major championship but perhaps not his last. He’s already won twice on the Challenge Tour in Europe in 2017 and tied for seventh place at the European Tour’s Joburg Open.

European Tour winner and 21-year-old Haotong Li easily made it at 13-under to also qualify for his first major championship. Li was followed by the highest-ranked player in the field to move on, No. 75 Levy at 12-under. Also at 12-under was 2006 U.S. Amateur winner Richie Ramsay, who will be making his first appearance at the U.S. Open in a decade and his first as a professional.

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This sectional lacked a true Cinderella story with all 15 qualifiers being tour pros ranked No. 523 in the world or higher. The closest we came is former Stanford standout and No. 33 world amateur David Boote. The young Welshman looked destined to advance with a first-round 62 at Walton Heath’s New Course to share the lead with Bradley Dredge after 18 holes, but he followed it up with a 73 on the Old Course, the highest closing score of anyone who finished inside the top 55. He still had a chance to survive in extra holes, tying for 12th at nine-under with Paul Dunne, Matt Wallace, Thomas Aiken, Wade Ormsby, Grégory Bourdy and Callum Shinkwin, but did not advance after a costly bogey on the first extra hole.

Dunne, Wallace, Aiken and Ormsby earned the final four spots with Bourdy and Shinkwin, in order, the two alternates. Rai, Li, Oliver Bekker, Joël Stalter, Dredge, Brandon Stone, Wallace and Ormsby qualified for their first U.S. Open.

Who’s out

Just missing out on a title at Wentworth last week, which would have automatically into the U.S. Open field, was Nicolas Colsaerts, who tied for third place at the BMW PGA Championship. He just missed out at Walton Heath, finishing one shot out of the playoff. Also missing out was 2010 U.S. Open runner-up Grégory Havret.

World No. 83 Scott Hend was one of the highest-ranked players in the field and one of three top-100 players who failed to qualify. He finished at four-under. Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington, who was the biggest name in the field, played beautifully on the New Course, carding a four-under 68 but it was too little and too late after he opened the day with a 77 on the Old.

The U.S. Open begins from Erin Hills on June 15.

Next: Who's in the U.S. Open Field?

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