Hahn, Allen earn trip to native soil

James Hahn and Michael Allen took different routes to the same coveted prize: a spot in next week’s U.S. Open at the Olympic Club.

Hahn, fresh off his first career Nationwide Tour victory Sunday in Raleigh, N.C., scrambled across the country and promptly posted the lowest score in Monday’s sectional qualifying at Lake Merced and Harding Park. Hahn, who grew up in Alameda and attended Cal, shot 66-70 to finish at 8-under-par.

Allen — who grew up in Hillsborough, is a longtime Olympic Club member and is this year’s leading money win-

ner on the Champions Tour — long ago turned pro specifically to chase a spot in the 1987 Open at Olympic (he didn’t qualify). Twenty-five years later, he punched his ticket by shooting 67-70.

“I’ve wanted it so bad for so long, to play in the Open at Olympic,” Allen, 53, said. “I’m so happy.”

Hahn, 30, found himself in an awkward spot Sunday. He obviously wanted to pocket his first Nationwide victory (along with the winner’s check of $99,000), but he also desperately wanted to bolt for the airport and make his flight back to the Bay Area.

Hahn sheepishly acknowledged he decided to go for the green in two shots (on a par-5) in Sunday’s playoff, to force the issue. Either make birdie and win quickly or hit his shot in the water, lose quickly and catch the last flight west.

Oddly enough, Hahn hit a horrible shot that stayed out of the water — and still made birdie. He won the tournament, barely made his flight, got three hours sleep and teed off at Lake Merced at 7 a.m. Monday.

“I really wanted to be here,” Hahn said. “It’s amazing, surreal. … I’ve always dreamed of playing in the U.S. Open, and I couldn’t pick a better place than the Olympic Club.”

Allen knows the feeling. As he walked toward the No. 14 tee Monday afternoon at Harding Park, he resisted the temptation to peer across the lake. The Olympic Club literally loomed in the distance, but Allen told himself, “Don’t look over there.”

He kept his focus on the sectional, finished off his 70 and earned his spot in the Open. Then, afterward, Allen couldn’t help but think about 2000 and 2001, when he contemplated quitting golf and his daughter, Christy, persuaded him to stick with it.

He also flashed back to the mid-’80s, when his dad, Charles (now deceased), persuaded him to pursue a tour career in the first place.

“My father would be crying right now,” Allen said. “I’ll be thinking of him next week, for sure.”

Five other players joined Hahn and Allen in advancing to the Open, out of a 130-man field: Matt Bettencourt (another Alameda native), Alex Cejka, Scott Smith, and amateurs Beau Hossler and Alberto Sanchez.