US Open tee time awaits Docherty less than a month after horrific car accident
OAKMONT, Pa. — What Alistair Docherty thought was smoke was really the powder bursting out of the freshly deployed airbag.
There was no mistaking the blood and glass covering everything in the wrecked white minivan.
Docherty was driving May 20 when he got T-boned in an intersection, two days before the Korn Ferry's Visit Knoxville Open. On June 2, the 31-year-old, who missed his PGA Tour card by two spots at the end of last season, qualified for the U.S. Open.
At 6:45 a.m. Thursday, Docherty will tee off at Oakmont. It's no stretch to say he's happy to be here, but Docherty wants more than just a good memory to close out this wild three weeks.
'It's not a miracle,' Docherty said after wrapping up a practice round that hardly looked possible less than a month ago, as he was tangled in the blood and glass. 'I'm very thankful. But it's definitely where I believe I'm supposed to be. Everything works out for a reason. I'm just trying to take advantage.'
The pictures tell the story best.
One is of the passenger's side of the minivan, sitting in the grass near the intersection, crumpled almost beyond recognition after getting slammed by an SUV that ran a red light.
Another is Docherty lying in a hospital bed, lips pierced, eyes barely open, wearing a hospital gown draped over part of his neck collar.
'My car spun around a few times. I felt glass and everything come at me,' Docherty said. 'I opened my eyes and thought I saw smoke. I jumped out of the car as quickly as possible. It ended up being the stuff coming out of the airbag. I walked around a little dazed, and I was covered in blood and glass.'
At the hospital, doctors and nurses were able to clean the glass off his body — no major damage there. The scans came back clean — nothing broken, either.
Docherty said his shoulder and legs took the brunt of the crash. Constant work with the physical therapist allowed him to set his sites on June 2 at Duke University Golf Club. He shot 72-64 in the 36-hole qualifier to earn one of seven spots available there.
The third part of that photo essay is him holding his invitation to play in the U.S. Open this week.
Docherty knows he's lucky to be here but he's aiming for more — knowing a strong performance in this, his first major, could result in his second life-changing moment in a month.
'This is a great test to see where my game is at right now,' he said. 'If you show up thinking 'I don't have a chance here,' then you're done. so, I believe I have a chance to play my best here and see where it puts me.'
golf: /hub/golf
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
34 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Late miscues cost Phil Mickelson a shot at the weekend in his 34th -- and maybe last -- US Open
There was no grand gesture as the 54-year-old Mickelson loped up the hill. No wave to the crowd the way Arnold Palmer did in the same spot on the same course 31 years ago. No lengthy standing ovation from the gallery in return either. The man whose decades-long pursuit of the U.S. Open made him a fan favorite in his prime — not unlike Palmer in some ways — instead quietly marked his ball 16 feet from the hole, then walked over to the far edge of the green and stared at the leaderboard that glowed in the rainy twilight. A birdie would have let Mickelson stick around for the weekend at his 34th — and perhaps last — trip to the national championship. Wearing a white hat featuring the logo of his LIV Golf team, the HyFlyers GC, Mickelson stood over the line trying to get the right read. When the putt slid a foot left of the hole to keep Mickelson one outside the cut at plus-8, a small groan arose from those who stuck around. There was a shout or two of 'We love you Phil!' Along the railing, a man leaned toward a friend and said, "His exemption is done. No more U.S. Open for you Phil.' Maybe, maybe not. The five-year exemption into the tournament that Mickelson received when he captured the 2021 PGA Championship is expiring. Whether he'll be back to make a run at the one major that has eluded him is anyone's guess. Mickelson sure isn't saying. He politely declined to talk to reporters after emerging from the scoring area, disappearing into the clubhouse and an uncertain future at a tournament where he's been a runner-up six times. There are a number of ways for Mickelson to make it to Shinnecock next June. The USGA could offer him an exemption, as it did at Torrey Pines in 2020, though that doesn't appear to be USGA chief championship officer John Bodenhamer's first choice. 'I think the way that we would also think of Phil is we hope he earns his way in, and I think he'd tell you the same thing,' Bodenhamer said Wednesday. "That's what he did last time. We gave him one and then he went out and won the PGA Championship. So wouldn't put it past him.' Mickelson became the oldest major champion ever when he triumphed at Kiawah in 2021 at age 50. A lot has happened since then. Both on the course and off it. The man known universally as 'Lefty' played a major role in LIV Golf's rise, a move that has taken a bit of the shine off of his popularity back home. And while Mickelson's game can still show flashes — he really did knock a sideways flop shot into the hole during a LIV event last week in Virginia — and he looks fitter now than he did two decades ago, the reality is the swashbuckling approach that once endeared him to so many doesn't work that much anymore at the U.S. Open. Mickelson appeared to be in solid position to play the weekend when he stood on the 15th tee. He even on the day and 4 over for the tournament, well inside the cutline. A tee shot into the ankle deep rough at the 489-yard par 4 led to double bogey. He still seemed to be OK when he got to 17, a short uphill par 4. His tee shot sailed into the rough above a greenside bunker. There would be no magic this time. His attempted flop splashed into the sand instead. He blasted out to 25 feet and three-putted for another double bogey. That put him in a position he's been familiar with for a long time: heading to 18 at the U.S. Open needing to make a birdie of consequence. It didn't happen. And as he disappeared into the clubhouse, along with it came the realization that at this point, it likely never will. golf: /hub/golf
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
DeChambeau misses cut at US Open, then looks for answers in the rain
OAKMONT, Pa. — Bryson DeChambeau was the only player beating balls in the rain on the driving range as sundown approached Friday at Oakmont. Those were the last shots he'll hit at this year's U.S. Open. DeChambeau became the first defending champion to miss the cut at the national championship since Gary Woodland in 2020 — his round wrecked by errant drives, knucklers out of the rough and putts that would not drop. DeChambeau shot 7-over 77 to finish the two days at 10 over — three shots off the cutline. Where his signature shot last year at Pinehurst was that 55-yard blast from the bunker that set up the win on the 18th hole Sunday, the moment that told the story this year was the wild lash he took into the rough — also on No. 18 — then the TV cameras picking him up saying 'What was that?' as he regained his balance and headed toward the green. He saved par there and looked in line to make the cut with nine holes to go. It was a stretch of double bogey , bogey , bogey on 5, 6 and 7 that did in DeChambeau. And so, the fan favorite who also tamed Winged Foot for a title in 2020, and who has starred in four of the last five majors — winning last year's U.S. Open, paying with Rory McIlroy at the Masters and finishing second to Scottie Scheffler at this year's PGA and Xander Schauffele the year before — won't have a role on the weekend at Oakmont. Schauffele made the cut to extend his streak to 66 tournaments, the most since Tiger Woods made 142 straight, ending in 2005. Schauffele hasn't missed a cut at the majors since the Masters in 2022 — that's 14 straight. Matt Fitzpatrick, the 2022 champion, made one of only five birdies on the uphill, par-4 ninth hole to make the cut on the number. Some other former champions didn't fare as well. Among them are Dustin Johnson , the winner at Oakmont in 2016, Woodland , Lucas Glover and Wyndham Clark, whose 25-footer for par just missed and left him one off the cut line. Also missing was Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen, who teed off into a ditch on 18, had to take a penalty shot and finished with a double bogey to move to 8 over. And Phil Mickelson's days at the U.S. Open could be coming to an end. Playing in the last Open from his five-year exemption from his PGA win in 2021, Mickelson teed off into the greenside rough on 17 and needed five shots to get down. His double bogey left him at 8 over. golf: /hub/golf
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Victor Perez makes first US Open ace at Oakmont in 42 years, pulls within 4 shots of the lead
OAKMONT, Pa. — Victor Perez capped a nice second-day rally with a tournament highlight — the first U.S. Open ace at Oakmont since 1983. Perez hit a 7-iron on the sixth hole, a 192-yard par 3. The ball landed short of the hole, took a couple of bounces and rolled in. Perez ended up shooting an even-par 70 on Friday despite an early triple bogey. He's at 1 over through two rounds and was tied for sixth when play was suspended because of rain with only a few players left on the course. 'Obviously, a hole-in-one takes a bit of luck,' Perez said. 'I was trying to hit something maybe 15, 20 feet past the hole.' A double eagle, or albatross — like the one Patrick Reed made Thursday — is much more rare than an ace. However, the last time Oakmont yielded a hole-in-one during this national championship was 42 years ago, when Scott Simpson had one on No. 16. The 1994, 2007 and 2016 U.S. Opens, also held at this course, all came and went without an ace. Perez, a Frenchman who earned a spot for this tournament at a qualifier in Canada, said he's on a bit of a hole-in-one run. 'I've actually had two this month, against all odds," he said. 'Back in the Bahamas, where I live.' After shooting a first-round 71, Perez started Friday on No. 10 and quickly made a triple-bogey 8 on No. 12. 'Obviously, it wasn't an ideal start. Kind of put myself a little bit behind the 8-ball after three holes," he said. "It was a bit unfortunate, but I was able to kind of keep my head going and bounce back.' He was at 4 over when he birdied the par-4 fifth hole. Then came his ace, which he celebrated by doing a leaping chest bump with his caddie. 'You try to just make pars and survive,' Perez said. 'When you get kind of a chip-in, bonuses, something like that, it definitely kicks off. So it was nice to have a little bit of emotion.' 'A hundred percent," he said. James Nicholas clearly wanted to enjoy himself at Oakmont this week. The 28-year-old from Scarsdale, New York — who played football in addition to golf at Yale — qualified for the U.S. Open in New Jersey earlier this month and then turned some heads with a first-round 69 on Thursday. Friday wasn't as kind as Nicholas shot 45 on the front nine, including a quadruple bogey on No. 5. But he rebounded with a 33 on the back, smiling and egging on his supporters after making three straight birdies. Nicholas flipped his putter and caught it out of the air after missing a par putt on No. 18. Perhaps he thought that would cost him the weekend, but he ended up making the cut right on the number at 7 over. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro stopped by for Friday's second around and declared his state to be 'the golf capital of the United States." He'd surely receive some pushback on that, but Pennsylvania has been quite popular to the USGA. This is the 95th USGA championship held in the commonwealth, the most of any state. Oakmont is hosting the U.S. Open for a record 10th time. 'It's a sense of pride for Pennsylvania, and particularly western Pennsylvania, to know that this is the course that's been chosen more than any other for a U.S. Open," Shapiro said. 'It's also big business. It means our hotels and our restaurants, our bars are filled because of this. It also opens up people's eyes to the beauty of western Pennsylvania, the great culture of western Pennsylvania.' Justin Hastings shot a second straight 73 to become the lone amateur to make the cut. The 21-year-old Hastings is the first player from the Cayman Islands to compete in the U.S. Open. He earned his spot by winning the Latin America Amateur in January in Argentina. That win also got him into the Masters, where he missed the cut by two strokes but was the top amateur. Hastings just finished his senior season at San Diego State, where he won the Mountain West individual title. The rainstorm near the end of the second round was significant enough to halt play, and there's a chance for more of that over the weekend. That could be welcome if a softer course becomes a bit more manageable. "It was starting to look like another day of hot, dry weather and the weekend would be very difficult out here," said Adam Scott, who is three shots off the lead. 'There were certain greens that had a slickness about them and a firmness too. Fairways even getting a little bit like that. So the rain might keep it under control, hopefully, and spare us some frustrations.' golf: /hub/golf
