Rome rival Ryder Cup Captains united in looking to qualify for U.S. Open

Fatiha Betscher
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Team captains Luke Donald and Zach Johnson in Rome (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Fatiha Betscher

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Rome rival Ryder Cup captains Luke Donald and Zack Johnson are among a host of PGA Tour stars teeing-up Monday at 10 sites (Nine in the US & one in Canada) seeking to qualify for the June 15-18 US Open on the North Course at the Los Angeles Country Club.

The 10 qualifying sites where players will compete over 36-holes include:

►Lambton Golf & Country Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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►Hillcrest Country Club, Los Angeles Calif.
►Pine Tree Golf Club, Boynton Beach, Fla.
►Hawks Ridge Golf Club, Ball Ground, Ga.
►Woodmont Country Club (North Course), Rockville, Md.
►Canoe Brook Country Club (North & South Courses), Summit, N.J.

►Old Chatham Golf Club, Durham, N.C.
►Brookside Golf & Country Club and The Lakes Golf & Country Club, Columbus, Ohio
►Springfield (Ohio) Country Club
►Tacoma Country & Golf Club, Lakewood, Wash.

The USGA has provided notes on many of the leading players including Donald and Johnson who will tee-up on both the Brookside Golf & CC and The Lakes Golf & CC courses in Columbus, Ohio, and not far from this week’s Memorial host location at Dublin, Ohio.

Luke Donald, 45, 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. He also claimed the 1999 NCAA individual title while playing for Northwestern University.

Zach Johnson, 47, has won two major championships, the 2007 Masters Tournament and the 2015 Open Championship. He has played in 18 U.S. Opens. His best finishes are a pair of ties for eighth place in 2016 and 2020. Johnson, who has won 12 PGA Tour events, was a member of five USA Ryder Cup Teams and will serve as the captain in 2023.

A number of former US Open champions, with exemptions now expired, will also compete on Monday including Lucas Glover, winner of the 2009 US Open and now 45-year-old Aussie Geoff Ogilvy who claimed the 2006 U.S. Open Championship at Winged Foot Golf Club.

A third former US Open in 2010 champion Graeme McDowell recently sought to qualify in Texas but missed out in earning an LA Country Club tee time.

A number of LIV Golfers will also be looking to secure a US Open tee time include recent LIV winner Harold Varner III and Aussie Marc Leishman.

As well, PGA Championship ‘crowd hero’ Michael Block will be among just 32 players teeing-up on the Lambton Golf and Country Club in Toronto, Canada seeking to make his US Open debut, and where next week at the nearby Oakdale Golf and CC, the 46-year-old Californian will make his Canadian Open debut all thanks to a sponsor’s invitation.

Block has twice advanced through both stages of qualifying to the U.S. Open (2007, 2018). He tied for 15th in this year’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, in Rochester, N.Y., and stunned the golf work with an ace during the final round.

Block won the 2014 PGA Professional Championship, the Southern California PGA title three times and the 2001 California State Open. His 18-year-old son, Dylan, is competing in the Los Angeles, Calif., final qualifier at the Hillcrest club.

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