Gotterup, Manuel Lead Five Qualifiers To Brookline
PURCHASE, N.Y. (June 6, 2022) -- Chris Gotterup of Little Silver, N.J., and Caleb Manuel of Topsham, Maine led the charge in Final Qualifying for the 122nd U.S. Open Championship at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. Both golfers fired 3-under 137 over the 36-hole qualifying rounds. Gotterup started his day at Century Country Club with a solid 3-under 67. Manuel began at Old Oaks, where he was one of five golfers to finish under-par in the morning wave, carding a 1-under, 69. Gotterup, the 2019 MGA Players of the Year, battled to finish at even par on his second 18 at Old Oaks, while Manuel used back to back birdies in the middle of his round at Century to propel himself to the top of the leaderboard after a 2-under second 18.
“I have to give credit to the driver and putter, those were working all day,” said Manuel. “It’s not like I went really low, these courses didn’t really allow that, but I just plodded along. I had my dad on the bag today and it hasn’t really sunk in yet, but this means the world.”
It has been quite the past few weeks for Gotterup, who can add co-medalist to the list of accolades he has accrued recently. Within the last week, Gotterup finished his collegiate career as the No. 1 men's golfer and collected the Haskins Award, first-team All-American honors and the Jack Nicklaus Award.
“Century is certainly more gettable and that was my plan going in,” said Gotterup, who turned professional this week. “The wind got up later in the day and I had a few bad breaks, but I’m a lot more mature than I was a year ago and I thought I played pretty well; it’s just important to hang in there.”
Gotterup and Manuel were the only two golfers to automatically move through Final Qualifying, as a cluster of eight had to battle for the final three qualifying positions. After all eight made par on the first playoff hole at Old Oaks, the par-5 18th – the second playoff hole of the evening – proved to be decisive.
Brandon Matthews of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., knocked in a birdie on the second playoff hole. He was followed shortly by 57-year-old Fran Quinn of Holden, Mass., and Michael Thorbjornsen, the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, of Wellesley, Mass., who made birdies of their own. Those three proved decisive as they were the only three birdies carded on the second playoff hole, sending the trio to the U.S. Open.
“I didn’t even think I had a shot at a playoff after my second 18 holes,” said Thornbjornsen. “I was just grateful for the opportunity when I saw how it all played out. An eight-for-three playoff is crazy, especially against some of these pros. This U.S. Open is 15 minutes from my house and I’ve kind of just been manifesting this all year.”
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Kelly Kraft of Dallas, Chandler Phillips of Huntsville, Texas, Haraldur Magnus of Iceland, Michael Sweeney of Port St. Lucie, Fla., and Benjamin James of Milford, Conn., took to the first hole for a second time to decide the two alternate positions. Magnus and James were eliminated on the first hole, and Sweeney bogeyed the second playoff hole, allowing Kraft to take first alternate position with Phillips sliding into the second alternate spot.
Despite near-perfect conditions, the courses played tough for most of the day. The wind picked up in the afternoon, leading to higher scores as the day went on. Just 13 golfers finished their 36-hole marathon under par.
The qualifiers will have a quick turnaround, making the trek up I-95 to Brookline, Mass., for the U.S. Open Championship, June 16-19. Quinn is the only golfer of the five who qualified who has previous experience at the U.S. Open.