Has Any Golfer Won the U.S. Open After Going Through Local and/or Sectional Qualifying?
Yes, there have been golfers who have won the U.S. Open tournament after qualifying through the sectionals. And yes, there have even been golfers who've gone through both local and sectional qualifying and then won the U.S. Open. But it doesn't happen often.
Going Through Both Stages of Qualifying and Then Winning is Rare
U.S. Open qualifying is a two-stage process: Golfers not exempt begin by playing an 18-hole local qualifying tournament. Those that score well enough move on to the next stage, the 36-hole sectional qualifying tournaments.And golfers who make it through both stages get to play in the U.S. Open.
It's been 50 years since any golfer played his way into the U.S. Open by going through both local and sectional qualifying rounds and then winning the tournament. That golfer was the man they called Sarge, Orville Moody.
After advancing through local and sectional qualifying, Moody won the 1969 U.S. Open. Moody won by a single stroke over a trio of runners-up, Deane Beman, Al Geiberger and Bob Rosburg. And that wasn't just Moody's only major championship victory, it was his only PGA Tour win. He did go on to win 11 times on the senior tour.
Before Moody, Ken Venturi won the 1964 U.S. Open after playing his way in starting with local qualifying.
Going Through Sectional Qualifying and Then Winning
This is more common than going through both stages of qualifying, but it's still not a regular thing. Many golfers who are required to go through sectional qualifying are, however, PGA Tour pros, European Tour pros, even a few major champions every year must enter a sectional if they want to play in the U.S. Open.So sectional qualifiers performing well in the U.S. Open is not a rarity. Winning it, however, is scarce.
The last golfer who got in and won a U.S. Open after playing the sectional (but not a local) was Lucas Glover. Glover won the 2009 U.S. Open by two strokes over David Duval, Phil Mickelson and Ricky Barnes.
Prior to Glover in 2009, the most-recent such winners were Michael Campbell at the 2005 U.S. Open and Steve Jones at the 1996 U.S. Open.
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