U.S. Women's Open Stage Set; Final Qualifying Storylines
Three are tied for the lead heading into Sunday's finale at Lancaster Country Club. Plus, the best storylines for Monday's U.S. Open Final Qualifying.
Former champion Minjee Lee of Australia, America’s Andrea Lee and Thailand’s Wichanee Meechai are tied for the U.S. Women’s Open lead at five-under-par heading into Sunday’s finale at Lancaster Country Club.
A trio of Japanese born players trail: Hinao Shibuno (-3), 2021 champion Yuka Saso (-2) and Sakura Koiwai (+1).
The leader may be out of reach for longshot hopefuls based on Saturday’s play down the stretch. Both Lee’s came home in 33 while Meechai posted 69 fueled by tap-in birdie at the difficult 15th and an impressive par save a hole later after snap-hooking her tee shot.
Minjee Lee has the edge if experience ends up making the difference. A 10-time LPGA Tour winner, the 28-year-old Australian has a 2022 U.S. Women’s Open and 2021 Amundi Evian Championship on her resume.
Her fellow leaders are looking for a breakthrough moment Sunday.
Andrea Lee has one LPGA Tour victory but the 25-year-old former Stanford star from Hermosa Beach, California is a former world amateur No. 1 and two-time Curtis Cup participant. Meechai enters Sunday’s finale as the veteran world-traveler having the week of her life. The 14-year veteran of women’s pro golf has won five times in Asia but never on the LPGA Tour. She has just one top 15 finish in 20 major starts: a T12 in the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA.
Lancaster Country Club has continued as a relentless exam even when quieting to a more reasonable 72.04 Saturday average following rounds one and two scoring at 75.21 and 74.50.
The final pairing of Andrea Lee and Minjee Lee tee off at 2:15 p.m. ET.
Coverage windows Sunday: Peacock starts a 2 p.m. ET for one hour, then it’s USA Network for another hour at 3 pm. ET to create that vital lead-in to a wildly dated rerun of Law & Order before, finally, we hope, NBC takes over at 4 p.m ET.
Final Qualifying Storylines
Ten sites around the United States are preparing for “Golf’s Longest Day.”
The final field size for U.S. Open Final Qualifying and available spots will be announced on Monday.
After Sunday’s RBC Canadian Open, the USGA exempts any non-exempt members of the Official World Golf Ranking top 60. In the last chance to move up the rankings, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre holds a four-stroke lead over Ben Griffin, Mackenzie Hughes and Ryan Fox heading into the last day. MacIntyre is currently ranked 76th, while Hughes and Fox are already exempt to Pinehurst. Griffin is ranked 91st.
Scoring from all 10 qualifiers will be available at usopen.com’s page devoted to Final Qualifying. Golf Channel and Peacock will once again provide ten hours of live reporting and highlights from all ten sites. Final Qualifying coverage starts at noon ET and continues from 4 p.m. ET until midnight ET.
In the meantime, here are just some of the best storylines from the long list dutifully curated (as always) by the USGA’s Brian DePasquale and team.
Cherry Hill Club
Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada; 66 players for TBD spots
Paul Barjon, 31, of France, has played in three U.S. Opens (2020, 2021, 2023). He won last year’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship by three strokes and is now competing on the PGA Tour. Barjon, who won the 2019 PGA Tour Canada Order of Merit, owns six professional tour wins. He played at Texas Christian University and was the runner-up in the 2016 Big 12 Conference Championship.
Joseph Bramlett, 36, of San Jose, Calif., has played in three U.S. Opens, with his best finish a tie for 37th in 2022 at The Country Club. Bramlett was the youngest player at the time to qualify for the U.S. Amateur when he competed at age 14 in 2002. He was later sidelined for two years due to lateral spine dysfunction and returned to golf in 2018. He played at Stanford University and earned his PGA Tour card through qualifying school. He won the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
Stewart Cink, 51, of Atlanta, Ga., has played in 23 U.S. Opens, with his best finish a tie for third in 2001 at Southern Hills. Cink advanced through the Columbus, Ohio, final qualifier one year ago. He set the U.S. Open final qualifying 36-hole scoring mark in 2003 with rounds of 62 and 61 in Columbus. Cink captured the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry in a playoff with Tom Watson. He has won eight PGA Tour titles, including the 2019 RBC Heritage.
Robert MacIntyre, 27, of Scotland, has played in the U.S. Open twice. He tied for 35th in 2021 at Torrey Pines and tied for 56th the previous year at Winged Foot. The left-hander has posted three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season, including a tie for eighth in the PGA Championship. McIntyre, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, was a member of the 2017 Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup Team.
Chez Reavie, 42, of Scottsdale, Ariz., has played in nine U.S. Opens and tied for third in 2019 at Pebble Beach, his best finish in a major championship. Reavie has won three times on the PGA Tour, including the 2008 Canadian Open and the 2022 Barracuda Championship. He won the 2001 U.S. Amateur Public Links and has competed in 14 USGA championships.
Davis Riley, 27, of Hattiesburg, Miss., tied for 31st in the 2022 U.S. Open after advancing through the final qualifier in Columbus, where he carded a second-round 63. Riley, who has played in three U.S. Opens, recorded his second PGA Tour victory on May 26 when he won the Charles Schwab Challenge. He and partner Nick Hardy teamed to win the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Riley was twice runner-up in the U.S. Junior Amateur (to Scottie Scheffler in 2013 and Will Zalatoris in 2014).
Lake Merced Golf Club
Daly City, Calif.; 84 players for TBD spots
Jake Beber-Frankel, 22, of Miami, Fla., was one of six players to advance from the Pleasanton, Calif., local qualifier on May 7. He carded a 69 at The Club at Ruby Hill. Beber-Frankel, who has a twin sister, Phoebe, tied for 29th in this year’s Pac-12 Conference Championship as a senior on the Stanford University team in 2023-24. His father, David, has directed several successful studio films, including “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Marley & Me,” while his mother owns a Miami advertising agency. His grandfather, Max, was the executive editor of the New York Times.
Cooper Jones, 20, of Highland, Utah, was one of five players to advance from local qualifying in his hometown at Alpine Country Club on April 29. Jones, who just completed his freshman season at Brigham Young University, also reached final qualifying in 2022. He tied for 23rd in the Big 12 Conference Championship in April. In 2023, he reached the U.S. Amateur’s Round of 16. Jones helped his high school team win four consecutive Utah Class 6A state championships.
Jimmy Makloski, 29, of Pueblo, Colo., just completed his third year as the assistant golf coach at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He was the medalist in the Westminster, Colo., local qualifier on May 8. Makloski, who played as a collegian at Colorado State University, was the Colorado Golf Association Junior Player of the Year in 2012. He finished fourth in the 2016 Colorado State Amateur, and advanced to match play with partner Colin Prater in this year’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
Corey Pereira, 29, of Cameron Park, Calif., will attempt to advance through both stages of qualifying for the second consecutive year. He reached the 2023 U.S. Open through the Columbus, Ohio, final qualifier. Pereira shot a 66 to earn medalist in this year’s Granite Bay (Calif.), local qualifier on May 8. An All-Pac 12 Conference selection at the University of Washington, he played on PGA Tour Canada and the Korn Ferry Tour after turning pro in 2017. He stepped away from the game in the months leading up to last year’s U.S. Open to focus on his girlfriend who was diagnosed with cancer.
Sampson Zheng, 22, of the People’s Republic of China, is a two-time first-team All-Pac 12 Conference selection as a member of the University of California-Berkeley team. His produced six top-10 finishes as a senior in 2023-24, including a tie for second in the NCAA Rancho Santa Fe (Calif.) Regional. He won last year’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship with partner Aaron Du and reached the Round of 32 in the U.S. Amateur after sharing medalist honors.
The Bear’s Club
Jupiter, Fla.; 73 players for TBD spots
Ryan Armour, 48, of Silver Lake, Ohio, played in his first U.S. Open last year after advancing from the Canadian final qualifier. He was the runner-up to Tiger Woods in the 1993 U.S. Junior Amateur. He held a 2-up lead before Woods birdied holes 17 and 18 and won it with a par on the 19th hole at Waverley Country Club, in Portland, Ore. Armour recorded his first PGA Tour victory when he won the Sanderson Farms Championship by five strokes in 2017. His grandfather, Frank, was once president of Pittsburgh’s H.J. Heinz Company.
Luke Donald, 46, of England, has played in 14 U.S. Opens. His best finish is a tie for eighth in 2013 at Merion Golf Club. Donald, the 2011 PGA Tour Player of the Year, has won five Tour events and seven DP World Tour titles, including two BMW PGA Championships. Donald, the 1999 NCAA champion while playing at Northwestern University, was the winning captain of the 2023 European Ryder Cup Team and will serve again in 2025. He also played on two victorious Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup Teams in 1999 and 2001.
Branden Grace, 36, of South Africa, has played in 10 U.S. Opens and owns three top-10 finishes. He tied for fourth in 2015 at Chambers Bay and tied for fifth in 2016 at Oakmont Country Club. He has won twice on the PGA Tour, once on LIV Golf, and posted nine DP World Tour victories. He carded a 62 (8 under par) in The Open Championship in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, which was equaled in last year’s U.S. Open as the lowest round recorded in a major championship.
Justin Hicks, 49, of Wellington, Fla., has played in six U.S. Opens. He twice advanced through the two-stage qualifying process (2004, 2008) and is attempting to repeat that performance this year. In 2008, he shared the first-round lead with Kevin Streelman after carding a 68 at Torrey Pines’ South Course. He has combined for 25 victories on five professional tours, but is now a teaching pro in South Florida.
Willie Mack III, 35, of Orlando, Fla., was co-medalist with a 67 that included seven birdies in the Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., local qualifier on April 24 at Mission Inn Resort & Club. Mack, who now has full status on the Korn Ferry Tour, has recorded more than 70 wins on mini-tours and the Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour. Mack, the 2021 APGA player of the year, attended Bethune-Cookman University and once lived out of his car early in his professional career.
Graeme McDowell, 44, of Northern Ireland, won the 2010 U.S. Open by one stroke over Gregory Havret at Pebble Beach Golf Links, becoming the first European to capture the championship in 40 years. McDowell, who has played in 15 U.S. Opens, also tied for second with Michael Thompson, one stroke behind champion Webb Simpson at The Olympic Club in 2012. McDowell, who is now an LIV Golf member, has recorded four PGA Tour and 11 DP World Tour victories.
Joaquin Niemann, 25, of Chile, has played in five U.S. Opens, with his best finish a tie for 23rd in 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club. Niemann has won twice on LIV Golf in 2024, including the Mayakoba event when he defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff. He owns 12 professional victories, including two on the PGA Tour and a playoff win over Rikuya Hoshino in the 2023 Australian Open. He also won the 2018 Latin America Amateur Championship in his home country.
Sohan Patel, 15, of Weston, Fla., posted a 2-under 70 at Wellington (Fla.) National Club and was one of five to advance from local qualifying on May 6. Patel, who qualified for the 2023 U.S. Amateur and was the youngest player in the field at age 14, tied for sixth as a freshman in the Florida Class 2 A state high school championship last December. He tied for ninth as an eighth grader in 2022 when he was chosen Broward County golfer of the year.
Patrick Rodgers, 31, of Jupiter, Fla., has qualified for all five of his U.S. Opens, including last year, through Columbus, Ohio. He tied for 31st in 2022 at The Country Club and had the same result in 2021 at Torrey Pines. Rodgers, who tied for 32nd last year at The Los Angeles Country Club, owns three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2023-24. He was a member of two USA Walker Cup Teams (2011, 2013).
Brendan Valdes, 21, of Orlando, Fla., competed in his first U.S. Open in 2023 after advancing through both stages of qualifying. Valdes posted eight top-10 finishes as a junior at Auburn University in 2023-24. He earned first team All-Southeastern Conference honors as a sophomore and reached the Round of 32 in last year’s U.S. Amateur. Valdes won the Drive, Chip & Putt title (age 14-15 division) at Augusta National in 2018.
The Golf Club of Georgia (Lakeside Course)
Alpharetta, Ga.; 68 players for TBD spots
Derek Bard, 28, of Jacksonville, Fla., was the runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau in the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship. He also defeated Jon Rahm in the quarterfinals of that championship. Bard, who would earn an exemption as runner-up into the 2016 U.S. Open, played at the University of Virginia. Bard, who has played on several professional tours, including the Korn Ferry Tour, was one of four players to advance from the Sewickley, Pa., local qualifier on May 2.
Blades Brown, 17, of Nashville, Tenn., advanced from a 6-for-2 playoff in the Jackson, Tenn., local qualifier on April 23. He was chosen to the U.S. Junior National Team that is part of the newly created U.S. National Development Program (USNDP). Brown was the co-stroke-play medalist and advanced to the Round of 32 in last year’s U.S. Amateur. He may get his athletic prowess from his mother, Rhonda Blades Brown, a former WNBA player and All-America guard at Vanderbilt University. He tied for 26th in the Myrtle Beach Classic on May 12, his first PGA Tour event.
Billy Davis, 18, of Spring Valley, Calif., was one of five players to advance from the La Quinta, Calif., local qualifier on May 7. He carded a 68 at Andalusia Country Club. Davis reached the semifinals of the 2023 U.S. Junior Amateur and finished fifth in this year’s Terra Cotta Invitational. He will join his twin sister, Anna, at Auburn University this fall. Anna, who won the NCAA Auburn Regional as a freshman, has already played in two U.S. Women’s Opens and won the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Jake Peacock, 20, of Milton, Ga., was the co-medalist in the Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., local qualifier on April 24. He carded a 5-under 67 and overcame a double bogey with eight birdies. Peacock won the American Athletic Conference Championship with a final-round 64 as a junior at the University of South Florida in 2023-24. Peacock, an all-state selection at Cambridge High School in Georgia, won the 2015 Drive, Chip & Putt national title in the age 10-11 division.
Woodmont Country Club (North Course)
Rockville, Md.; 64 players for TBD spots
Evan Beck, 33, of Virginia Beach, Va., was the runner-up in the 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur, held at Sleepy Hollow Country Club, in Scarborough, N.Y. He won this year’s George L. Coleman Invitational at Seminole Golf Club. Beck, an analyst for an investment group, was runner-up in the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur. He was chosen Virginia State Golf Association Player of the Year in 2021 and 2022. Beck was a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection while playing at Wake Forest University.
Kevin Chappell, 37, of Fresno, Calif., has played in eight U.S. Opens. He tied for third in 2011 in his first Open when he shot 66 in the final round at Congressional Country Club. His lone PGA Tour win is a one-stroke victory over two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka in the 2017 Valero Texas Open. Chappell, who played at UCLA, won the 2008 NCAA Championship.
Ian Gilligan, 21, of Reno, Nev., transferred to the University of Florida from Long Beach State University and earned second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors as a junior in 2023-24. He owns five top-10 finishes, including a Southern Highlands title. He overcame a battle with anaplastic large-cell lymphoma that included seven rounds of chemotherapy at age 15. At LBSU as a sophomore, he was chosen Big West Conference Golfer of the Year and won the conference championship.
Jason Preeo, 45, of Littleton, Colo., was the 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark’s high school head coach at Valor Christian, south of Denver. Preeo guided to the school to five Class 4A state championship during his nine-year tenure. Preeo, who is a golf instructor at a learning center, qualified for the 2010 U.S. Open. He advanced through both stages and was one of seven local-final qualifiers to make the 36-hole cut at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Nick Sorkin, 33, of Moundsville, W.Va., will celebrate his birthday while attempting to qualify for a spot in the U.S. Open field at Pinehurst No. 2. He was the medalist in the Sewickley, Pa., local qualifier on May 2. His 5-under 66 included two holed shots for eagle on the outward nine. He spent five years in minor league hockey after his collegiate career at New Hampshire. He played for the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs and the East Coast Hockey League’s Wheeling Nailers.
Canoe Brook Country Club (North & South Courses)
Summit, N.J.; 72 players for TBD spots
Jackson Buccigross, 24, of South Windsor, Conn., was one of eight players to advance from the Darien, Conn., local qualifier on May 13. He is the son of John Buccigross, who has been an ESPN SportsCenter anchor since 1996. Jackson, who now plays professionally on mini-tours, was an All-Atlantic Region and All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference selection at NCAA Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Christopher Crawford, 30, of Bensalem, Pa., is attempting to qualify for the U.S. Open through both stages for a fourth time. Crawford, who has played in three U.S. Opens (2016, 2017, 2021), was the co-medalist (67) in the West Orange, N.J., local qualifier on May 9. Crawford became the first Drexel University golfer to play in a U.S. Open in 2016 when he sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole in the Summit, N.J., final qualifier. He is currently competing on PGA Tour Americas.
Chris Gotterup, 24, of Little Silver, N.J., qualified for the 2022 U.S. Open through both stages and then tied for 43rd in the championship. He recorded his first PGA Tour victory in this year’s Myrtle Beach Classic with a 72-hole score of 262 (22 under). He was a consensus first-team All-America at the University of Oklahoma in 2021-22 after transferring from Rutgers University. His father, Morten, won his second New Jersey Senior Amateur last year and his sister, Anna, is an attacker on the U.S. Naval Academy lacrosse team.