My dad was a jockey with over 1000 winners and my grandad played in EFL – I'm making my own way in golf at US Open
He warmed up for his debut by playing a practice round with a former major winner
RUNS IN THE FAMILY My dad was a jockey with over 1000 winners and my grandad played in EFL – I'm making my own way in golf at US Open
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TYLER WEAVER will complete a remarkable family hat-trick when he tees off in the US Open.
The English amateur golfer is the son of former flat jockey Jason Weaver, who rode more than 1,000 winners before carving out a new career as a popular TV commentator.
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Tyler Weaver has qualified for the US Open
Credit: Getty
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His dad Jason Weaver works for ITV Racing
Credit: Getty
And grandad Eric was a professional footballer with Swindon Town, so sporting genes definitely run deep in the Weaver family.
Weaver Junior - who was runner-up in the English Amateur championship and is now studying at Florida State University - booked his place via a play-off at a qualifier in Atlanta.
Major winners Zach Johnson, Jason Dufner and K.J.Choi were among the players who failed to advance.
Fortunately for Jason, the US Open falls neatly between the Derby and the Royal Ascot.
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So Weaver, 20, will have both his parents cheering him on, with older brother Max - another elite amateur golfer - caddying for him.
He warmed up for his debut on the sport's biggest stage by playing a practice round with five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, who also studied at Florida State.
Weaver commented: 'Just getting through qualifying was up there as one of my biggest achievements, because I've always dreamed of playing in a major championship.
'It all feels exciting and a bit surreal. But now that I'm here I want to go out and compete and do as good as I can.'
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Dad Jason says he will be more nervous than he was before a big race, but is confident Tyler will do himself justice.
He said: "I am super proud because I know the hard work Tyler has put in to get to this stage. It is a great achievement.
"It will be even more special with his older brother Max caddying.
And with the US Open falling between two of the biggest dates in the racing calendar, Tyler has timed his qualification to perfection as far as I am concerned.'
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an hour ago
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First, he tickled the belly of the beast and then he was introduced to its teeth. If nothing else comes from Rory McIlroy's trip to the US Open, at least he will have a battle story to tell about Oakmont. Will that be shared with the media? We have to wait on that, because for the fifth major round in succession he bolted without saying a word. But given the tribulations of his opening 74, and indeed his mood of late, that snub was no great shock. More surprising was the meltdown on his back nine, which launched McIlroy from two-under-par and one off the lead at the turn to four-over by the close, six shots behind leader JJ Spaun. Such a journey from contention to cold shoulders was a messy tale of duffed chips and missed putts, amplified by a new driver that behaved as badly as its recent predecessors. Even for this place, and for all we have raved about its reputation, a return of four bogeys and a double from those inward nine holes was a nasty way to end an afternoon. 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That belonged to Dustin Johnson, the eventual winner, and so Spaun's first-round accomplishment warrants great recognition, particularly for the manner in which he missed six greens and scrambled to make par each time. Does Spaun's score and a number of other sub-par rounds mean Oakmont is playing slightly easier than normal? It is like trying to identify differences between a rabid tiger and an angry one. For instance, Bryson DeChambeau, the defending champion, laboured to a 73 and needed three shots to escape greenside rough at the 12th. Scottie Scheffler? He was among the late starters and found himself two-over through 10 holes. Shane Lowry, tipped to win by many this week and playing alongside McIlroy, had a rough day. He benefited from a chip-in par on the 17th and an eagle from the fairway on the third and yet still signed for a 79. Lowry's round was proof of Oakmont's many challenges — despite hitting 10 of 14 fairways, thereby avoiding too much extra time in the five-inch rough, he was still trending towards a missed cut, battered by his failure to find greens and an inability to thrive with the putter. When one tripwire is navigated on this course, a dozen more await your next step. Lowry's exasperation was best shown when he yanked an on-course microphone from the ground and hurled it as he approached the turn. The third member of the group, Justin Rose, who has been runner-up in two of the previous three majors, shot 77 — combined, he, Lowry and McIlroy were 20-over. So make no mistake, even in sedate weather, Oakmont is a brute. Just ask Matt Vogt, an American amateur who qualified with a good yarn to tell, for he is a former caddie here and these days works as a dentist. He needed 82 shots — you can make your own gags about pulling teeth. Of the British interests among the earlier starters, Robert MacIntyre had the best of it. He closed with a bogey, but after hitting 11 of 14 fairways in a level-par 70 he was well placed. McIlroy? Not nearly so much, which only extends the gloom of his post-Masters lull. Starting on the 10th, he opened well with a 30-footer for birdie on the 11th and another stroke followed when he reached the par-five 12th in two. At that stage, his game from the tee was showing a degree of improvement after switching to his fourth driver configuration in the space of three starts. By the turn, he was also showing plenty of grit, which was necessary because the latest driver had gone cold. He had hit only two fairways, but was saving pars. Alas, it unravelled spectacularly. On the first hole, his 10th, he three-putted back to one-under and on the par five fourth, the easiest on the card, he drove miles off line to the right, which was his pattern for the day. Buried in long grass, McIlroy ignored the advice of caddie Harry Diamond, who suggested a penalty drop in a better spot, and instead hacked into the grassy face of a bunker. The third shot then travelled barely 15 yards and eventually a 32-footer dropped for a six. It could have been worse. Difficulties in the sand on the sixth brought McIlroy back to one-over, a three-putt at the next extended the rut and the final indignity came on the eighth, an excessively long par three of 300 yards. Taking aim with a three wood, he sliced it into the deep stuff on the right, duffed his pitch and required another three to get down. The story of his post-Masters revival might have to wait for a kinder location.
