Qualifiers in the red: As many of the world’s top players flounder, the proverbial average Joes make quite a strong showing.
Group of six surprisingly all under par
TOWN OF ERIN - The U.S. Open touts itself as the major for the everyman. Anyone with a handicap not exceeding 1.4 can enter and qualify provided they advance through local and sectional qualifying.
Out of 9,485 total entries, including 8,979 at the local level, just 21 players made it from their local qualifiers all the way to Erin Hills — the fewest since 2013. On Thursday, as many of the world’s top players floundered in the first round of the 117th U.S. Open, the proverbial average Joes made quite a strong showing.
Of the record 44 players who broke par on Thursday, six were golfers who started their journey to Erin Hills in a local qualifier — Derek Barron, Cameron Champ, Jack Maguire, Kevin Dougherty, Tyson Alexander and Dru Love. That’s a better ratio than the top 21 players in the world golf rankings were able to put together, as just five, including leader Rickie Fowler at 7-under, broke par.
Among that group of players who started in local qualifiers, Barron, Maguire, and Champ, an amateur, tied for the low score of 2-under.
“A couple times when I was kind of off by myself on the course I was like, ‘Man, I’m actually here; I’m doing this and I’m playing pretty decent today,’ “Barron said.
Barron, a 32-year-old who unlike Champ and Maguire didn’t play golf in college, has taken the long road to the U.S. Open. A former high school baseball player and son of Tony Barron, an 18-year professional baseball player who logged 58 games in the majors for the Expos and Phillies in the 1990s, Derek didn’t start playing golf until he was 17.
He got hooked quickly then continued to work on his game. He attended a community college and a series of odd jobs, including working at his grandfather’s hydraulics company. In 2011 he turned pro and soon af- ter became an assistant pro and instructor in Tacoma.
Making the U.S. Open marked the high point of his golf odyssey and Barron made sure to enjoy it, having fun and interacting with the crowd throughout his round.
“I want to have fun,” Barron said. “I know this is a major and I know this is the U.S. Open and believe me it’s important to me as it is to any person here if not more.
“A lot these guys, their life’s not going to change — they’ve already won $20 million on the tour or whatever. Not that it doesn’t matter to them, but the impact is maybe a little bit different. I’m so lucky to be out here rubbing elbows with them, honestly.”
Champ, a rising senior at Texas A&M, made quite the impact as well. Playing on his 22nd birthday, Champ outdrove everyone in the 156-man field, averaging 349.4 yards off the tee.
While he had no idea he’d lead the field in driving distance in the first round, Champ already had gained the attention of tour veterans during practice rounds this week, including Ernie Els who at one point asked aloud, “Who hit that?” after Champ rocketed a shot 40-50 yards by him on the 18th hole.
Starting on the back nine, Champ turned his huge drives into birdies on Nos. 15, 16, 18, 2 and 4 to move to 4-under and into a tie for sixth at that point. Bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6 dropped him down, but he made a series of quality putts to make par on the final three holes.
After years of back problems derailed his first two seasons at Texas A&M, Champ is healthy and hoping to continue his success into Friday and hopefully the weekend. Through the first round, he’s second among amateurs behind Scottie Scheffler, who shot a 3under 69.
“The amateurs that are here are great players, obviously Scottie (included),” Champ said. “And I think my class and the amateurs coming up are just getting better and better . ... It’s just a really good group of young guys coming out.”
In addition to breaking par in the first round, Maguire and Dougherty were two of just four players to eagle the par-5 18th hole.