2 major winners get last-minute U.S. Open bids, keeping stellar streaks alive
Both Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia's major championship streaks will survive this U.S. Open.
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After coming up just short for a U.S. Open spot in final qualifying, Adam Scott will have a tee time at Pinehurst No. 2 this week after all.
So, too, will another familiar name: Sergio Garcia.
Scott was one of two players who became exempt Monday for this week’s national championship by way of the final Official World Rankings cutoff.
The 2013 Masters winner was No. 61 in the ranking as of Monday morning, with the top 60 being exempt for the championship, but the late Grayson Murray was ranked 59th. When the USGA removed Murray from the eligibility list, Scott earned a berth in the third major of the year.
This week will mark Scott’s 92nd consecutive major played, a streak dating back to the 2001 Open Championship when he was just 21. The next longest active streak belongs to Jordan Spieth, at less than half that total: 43 consecutive starts.
Having entered June at 58th in the world, Scott was in a precarious position to miss his first major in more than two decades after a missed cut at the PGA Championship sent him out of the top 60, just before the first of two top-60 ranking cutoffs for the U.S. Open.
Scott entered the Springfield, Ohio, U.S. Open Final Qualifier, but wavered on actually playing in it. He ultimately decided to tee it up after a T12 finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge and led the 36-hole qualifier for most of the day. But a bogey on the final hole sent Scott into a playoff with fellow Aussie Cam Davis.
After an exciting duel, Davis grabbed the last of four spots available at the site while Scott was the first alternate.
Two weeks later, though, Scott, who already had arrived on site at Pinehurst Sunday, is in.
Murray won earlier this season at the Sony Open but died by suicide on May 25. He was still listed in the OWGR as of Monday morning after moving up two places this past week from 61st to 59th.
Robert MacIntyre was also made exempt to the U.S. Open after he vaulted from 76th in the world to 39th thanks to his win on June 2 at the RBC Canadian Open between the two ranking cutoffs.
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As is typical, the USGA held four additional spots for players who could have become exempt, meaning four more alternates filled out the field.
And one will also continue an impressive streak.
Among the four alternates was Sergio Garcia, the first alternate from the Dallas Final Qualifier played on May 25.
This was the second time Garcia had attempted final qualifying for the U.S. Open since joining LIV Golf two years ago. He was successful in his bid last season, also at the Dallas final qualifier, to make it into the field for the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, but wasn’t as fortunate this year.
After 36 holes in the largest U.S. Open Final Qualifier of the year, Garcia found himself in a seven-way playoff for six spots in the tournament. On the extra hole, the 2017 Masters winner was the only player to make bogey, knocking him down to first alternate status in agonizing fashion.
The alternate list is ordered by strength of the field at the player’s respective qualifier. Given that the Final Qualifier in Dallas was the largest, it was likely Garcia would land a spot.
Garcia will make his 25th consecutive U.S. Open appearance at Pinehurst, tied for the 10th most of all time.
The other three alternates added to the field were amateur Brendan Valdes (Jupiter, Fla., qualifier), Otto Black (Columbus, Ohio) and Maxwell Moldovan (Springfield, Ohio).
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