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New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Making the U.S. Open was a dream. Then he shot 35-over-par
OAKMONT, Pa. — The smile wasn't particularly wide, but it was a smile. After playing in his first U.S. Open, after exploring every last inch of Oakmont Country Club, and after sinking one last putt to mercifully break 90, George Duangmanee deserved to grin as little or as much as he wanted. 'I knew it was going to be a hard test coming in, but I didn't think it was going to be this hard,' Duangmanee said, standing outside Oakmont's scoring area. With scores of 86-89, he finished his 36 holes at the U.S. Open at 35-over-par. Duangmanee stood in 156th place. Out of 156 players. Advertisement The U.S. Open is called an open for a reason. Duangmanee made it here the hard way. The 23-year-old from Fairfax, Va. graduated from the University of Virginia last year and began his pursuit of professional golf without membership on any professional tour. This spring, that pursuit included paying a $200 entry fee to sign up for the first stage of U.S. Open qualifying. Duangmanee was good enough to play his way into his first PGA Tour event last month, so why not the U.S. Open? In Maryland, Duangmanee shot a 1-under 71 to advance to the second and final stage, but that's the (relatively) easy part. Final qualifying came next: Duangmanee faced a stronger field with higher-ranked players, a harder course, and 36 holes to prove yourself. Rounds of 68 and 67 put Duangmanee in a tie for second place, and four players were moving on to Oakmont. Those two scores gave him his first major championship tee time. They gave him solace that the grind of mini-tour golf that's required for most to rise up the professional golf ranks was worth it. That's what makes this championship great. Anyone — at least anyone with a .4 handicap or better — can make it. The USGA accepted a record 10,202 entries for qualifying this year. That 10,000-plus dwindled to 980, and that 980 dwindled to 69. Of those 69 U.S. Open qualifiers, only 17 made it through both the local and final qualifying stages, Duangmanee included. But making it to a U.S. Open and playing in a U.S. Open — those are two different experiences. Duangmanee hit 10 of 28 fairways at Oakmont. He hit six of 18 greens. There were seven double bogeys, one triple bogey and one quadruple bogey. He slapped it around a course that wasn't just a brutal test of golf for a local qualifier. Oakmont is making a fool out of greats and major champions. Sergio Garcia, Max Homa and Rickie Fowler aren't even here. Advertisement Duangmanee played in the 2:42 p.m. pairing on Thursday, the last of the day. He went home that night after finishing an opening round 86 in the dark. Then got up out of bed on Friday to do it all over again. The next day, he finished his first U.S. Open in front of his family and friends, a pair of whom carried an overflowing merchandise bag as they begged a volunteer to let them pass onto a grandstand and watch him two-putt to avoid the ignominy of 90. 'I mean, going into today, I just wanted to have fun out there,' Duangmanee said. 'I knew I was kind of out of it after my first round. So I just tried to enjoy the experience as much as possible. I didn't really get down on myself. I just kept going, and I was just happy to be out here today.' Double bogey after double bogey, punch after punch, the 23-year-old tried to keep himself in good spirits, not only for his own sanity but for the future. After playing in his 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier last week, Duangmanee played four more 18-hole rounds and earned status on a tour for the first time. It's conditional status on the PGA Tour of Americas, but he'll take it. He bore the brunt of the U.S. Open, but that doesn't mean he couldn't learn something along the way. He'll keep learning when he sticks around for the weekend to watch the rest of the championship. 'It's a little bit intimidating being around people you watch on TV every week. I'm trying to learn as much about how they practice, how they warm up and everything. So I've been keeping an eye on how the best in the world do it, so I'm gonna use that going forward,' Duangmanee said. Duangmanee wasn't hesitant to share that this was the biggest stage of golf he's ever played in. He had no shame in admitting that the test all but slapped him in the face. But a highlight of the week? He couldn't necessarily think of one. He was just happy to be there, at Oakmont, grateful to soak it all in and say that he made it to the tournament in the first place. How many of the 10,000 would have traded places with him in that moment? (Top photo of George Duangmanee: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
Reuters
03-06-2025
- General
- Reuters
Living a dream, Luke Clanton set for debut at RBC Canadian Open
June 3 - Luke Clanton is champing at the bit to make his professional debut this week at the RBC Canadian Open at TPC Toronto. "It's something you dream for always, constantly," Clanton said Tuesday. "To kind of now be here and to call myself a professional is a little bit -- honestly, a little bit weird at first because I've always been an amateur. "It's amazing. I'm just excited to come out here and compete. It's not about the money. It's not about any of the fame. It's about competing with these guys on Tour. It's something I've chased for my whole, entire life, and especially my family." Clanton, 21, was the top-ranked amateur in the world before turning pro this week. The Florida native and Florida State golfer secured his automatic PGA Tour card at Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches on Feb. 28 via the PGA Tour University accelerated pathway. Clanton recorded two runner-up finishes among four PGA Tour top-10 finishes in 2024, becoming the first amateur since Jack Nicklaus in 1961 with at least three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in a year. Now, Clanton aims to build off that success in his first visit to Canada. And what goal does Clanton have in mind as he begins the next step of his career? "My only goal is to stay process oriented as much as I can," Clanton said. "You can look very far into the future and say I want to win majors and PGA tournaments. Obviously everyone wants to do that. To me, it's staying connected to my team, staying connected to my family, and staying connected to the process as much as I can. It's a very generic answer as everyone says, but it's something true." --Field Level Media
Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Rise of the nine-wood, the salvation of shameless hackers
Once the salvation of the shameless hacker, the rise of the nine-wood is one of the more unusual trends in the elite professional men's game. But the fact that Collin Morikawa – arguably the world's best iron player – is turning to the dark side highlights that this could be so much more than a fad. Any 18-handicapper worthy of his or her one-shot per hole will tell you the merits of swapping out a four-iron or five-iron or perhaps both for a club with the same loft that makes it easier to hit it from the rough. But professionals are supposed to be far more accomplished, so this ever-growing movement has taken the range by surprise. 'I'm not sure I ever thought that we'd be seeing so many big names putting it in their bag,' Pete Cowen, the renowned coach, said. 'But a while ago the seven-wood raised in popularity and now it's the nine-wood's turn. Yeah, the bigger equipment makers are marketing them, but the pros only use something if it works. And the nine-wood clearly does, as you might see here [ at the US PGA Championship ] this week.' Now serving up 9-wood butter cuts. Check out the new #Qi35Fairway @collin_morikawa is testing this week, and then check the spec. 👇 #TeamTaylorMade — TaylorMade Golf (@TaylorMadeGolf) May 12, 2025 Depending on who you talk to, there are debates over was the first to employ the game-improver on Tour, but as one of Tommy Fleetwood's nicknames is 'Tommy Nine-Wood' it is fair to consider the Englishman as one of the pioneers. 'For years I have switched between a three-iron and a seven-wood, depending on the test ahead,' he said. 'If its windy, then the three-iron goes in, but if I need a higher launch to help stop approach shots on firm greens, I go in with the seven-wood. The nine-wood is just an extension of this and I happily put it into play a few years ago.' Fleetwood first used the TaylorMade Stealth Nine-Wood at the 2023 Players Championship and has not really looked back – just upwards. The PGA Tour website explains that 'due to the centre of gravity, club design, and length of shaft, fairway woods will naturally produce longer and higher-flying golf shots compared to their iron equivalents'. 'It has 24 degrees of loft, about the same as a four-wood, but it is like hitting a wedge onto the green – it goes up and drops straight down,' Fleetwood explained. 'It's not a club you're going to drill and get more out of it, it's just going to go up in the air and come straight down. I's a nice feeling when the ball drops down next to the hole like an anvil.' TaylorMade's Senior Manager, Adrian Rietveld, concurs with Fleetwood, for whom he has, on occasion, worked as an emergency caddie. It is almost akin to a cheat code. 'These nine-woods are basically pitching wedges for a 225-yard shot,' he said. Fleetwood's secret weapon did not stay classified for long. Dustin Johnson, the former world No 1, had also chucked the weapon into battle and his example inspired his LIV comrade Richard Bland to do the same. The Englishman, who qualified for this week courtesy of winning last year's Senior US PGA, is ready to utilise it at Quail Hollow in the season's second major, believing that it will be a huge help because of the thick, wet rough. Will Morikawa do the same? He 'gamed' a TaylorMade Qi35 nine-wood at last week's Truist Championship and was impressed. He thanked his new bagman, Joe Greiner, for the tip. 'I never even thought about a nine-wood,' Morikawa said. 'But when I was talking to Joe, I was asking about four-irons and he mentioned it [Greiner's previous employer Max Homa tested one last year]. It's kind of a club, not that I struggle with, but I want to find the perfect distance and launch with, especially in certain conditions. 'Look, it has stopping power from 225 yards. It probably hits the ball the highest of any club in my bag. So why wouldn't you use it? You'd probably be dumb not to have a go.' So let the purists sneer. 'Doesn't bother me,' Johnson said. 'If it saves shots, I ain't proud.'
