Issued by ALEC ETHEREDGE | Executive editor
Columbus, Ohio – Michael Johnson didn’t let the crowded PGA Tour expert field stop him during his long day of golf in Columbus, Ohio.
The former Auburn and Spain Park Golf showed their mental and physical toughness when they turned into a two-day qualifier from June 7-8, knocking out several current experts to secure a spot in this year’s US Open Championship.
“It was very cold. Honestly, it still hasn’t hit me, ”Johnson said. “I hope it hits me when I get close to Dorey. I was so focused on trying to move, I didn’t really think about doing it, but this time I stayed. “
For Johnson, who tried to get his tour card on various tours related to the PGA Tour, it was a tough finish over two days, but he struggled with different obstacles.
However, the US Open offers any professional or amateur player with a 1.4 disability or reduced probability of qualifying for one of the four major golf championships.
Johnson competed in a local qualifier at the Calve Resort & Gardens Mountainview Course and used survival design and advanced playoff style to shoot 67 of 4 draws to advance to the finals of qualifying.
He was able to finish in a dive to advance to third position as the first eight finals were required.
When I decided to move from there to Columbus to compete in the final qualifying stage, it led me to the selection of the most dangerous field.
While 120 players competed in the playoffs with a commemorative game in the town of Murfield, Dublin, Ohio, many were PGA Tour professionals.
But, it provided the most deserving spots for any qualified player to progress with 16 players.
“It was very popular because it was the Monday after Memorial Day, but I chose to go there because I got 16 seats,” Johnson said. “Only five seats were available in Atlanta.”
But the competition became a grinding process.
Johnson, who began playing 36 holes on Monday, added a flawless first 18 in his first round.
Then after driving 20 minutes into his second round on a different topic, he got off to a good start with two birds under 9 years old.
However, he retired with a bogey and a double bogey to close out the first nine of the second round.
As darkness approached after 8pm, Johnson made two birds and a ghost through his first five holes in the last nine and returned to low 7 before the day was out due to darkness.
Johnson had four holes to play, he was inside the qualifying line at the time, but he had to sleep with that tension and a place in the US Open.
“I know that if I do parts in my last four holes, I will make it to the US Open, so it has been an interesting night for me,” Johnson said. “I tried to get as much sleep as I could, but I didn’t know how much I got. He wasn’t really nervous, he was nervous. You can only think of four holes ”.
Despite the restless night and crowded leaderboard, Johnson made four straight innings to come out and get closer to qualifying, placing him ninth at 7 under par and a shot made it clear that he was forced to compete in the five-man playoffs. To the final place.
In 16 qualifiers, Johnson advanced to the US Open at Torrey Pines from June 17-20 with 14 PGA Tour professionals and an amateur company.
Johnson was paired with former Masters champion Charles Schwartz, who qualified, as well as Chess Reeve, Eric van Rouen, Wyndham Clark, JD Boston, Martin Laird, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Dylan Frittelly, Brendan Steele, Sunkoon Kong, Adam Hodwin , Peter Malnotti, Tom Hawke, Jonathan Vegas and fan Pearson got together.
In addition to those names, with the exception of Johnson and Goody on the PGA Tour, Johnson dropped the famous Ricky Folver, Keegan Bradley, Jason Daphne and Butrek Harrington by two sides to take a spot.
“It is very humble, because you have seen them on the tour week after week, you have proven to be a worthy man, they hit the balls next to you. It’s a humble game, ”Johnson said. “Five years ago, who would have thought Ricky would try to qualify for a US Open.”
The victory marks the world for Johnson, who finished third in his PGA Tour debut at the Barbasol Championship, but has since failed to obtain his tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour in 2017.
“It means a lot to me personally,” Johnson said. “2019 was an approximate year. I played very poorly for five or six months and got a new swing coach in 2020 when I had an epidemic. It helped me a lot. I enjoyed watching the hard work pay off. This year I played well and did some good rounds. It is a pleasure to be together.
As for the opportunity to compete in one of the most prestigious fields in the world on one of the most competitive subjects, Johnson said it was a dream come true.
“It’s a bit surreal because you want to be an NBA player and you want to be in the playoffs in the NBA Finals. If it’s soccer, you want to play in a national championship or a Super Bowl, ”Johnson said. “It just came to our attention then. Apart from the masters, this is the largest there is. You grow up with this dream and participate in all these contests. It’s about getting a master’s degree, it’s about winning the US, winning the Open. It would be great to put one foot on the first tee and I know I have a place to play this year. “
Given the opportunities he’s had in the main championship, Johnson feels like he’s playing his best golf and said he can compete for the championship.
“Obviously I feel better. It will fall apart if I can implement or come up with a game plan, ”Johnson said. “At the US Open, there are fair roads and greens. I will attack some drivers and practice it, because it is important to find reasonable roads in Dora. I feel good, a good head should be in place. “
He said he knew he could count on the support of all who returned home to Birmingham.
“It was amazing getting some text messages and phone calls after the round,” he said. “Birmingham was great for me, especially after school and at home.”
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