The Road to the U.S. Open: Durham, N.C.

Host Course

Duke University Golf Club is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design measuring 7154 yards and is home to the Blue Devils golf teams. 

Players In the Field: 84

Spots Available: 4-6

Most Decorated Players: 

Webb Simpson: The 38-year-old and 7-time tour winner won the U.S. Open in 2012 at Olympic Club. Who can forget the strange birdman photo bomber in Simpson’s post tournament interview and Simpson’s “Enjoy the jailcell, pal,” comment? Simpson finished T-8 at the U.S. Open in 2020 but hasn’t made the cut since and didn’t make the field last year.

Bill Haas: The 42-year-old and 2011 FedEx Cup champion won six times on the PGA Tour but has only played five events this season. While he hasn’t played a U.S. Open since 2018, Haas is a Wake Forest alumnus and has played Duke’s course countless times. 

Russell Knox: The 38-year-old has made nearly $18M in his career and won twice on the PGA Tour. He has yet to find his form this year through four PGA Tour starts and six KFT starts. Knox’s last start in the U.S. Open was 2018 where he finished T-12. 

PGA Tour Winners

Fabian Gomez

Chesson Hadley

Shatoshi Kodaira

Kyle Stanley

Richie Werenski

Storylines

Harry Higgs: Higgs won back-to-back KFT events in May and delivered a powerful speech at the Visit Knoxville Open about the death of Grayson Murray. He's been playing inspired golf lately and perhaps, Higgs can ride this momentum to a tee time at Pinehurst. 

Harold Varner III: Varner never won on the PGA Tour, but he won last year at the LIV Golf event in Washington, D.C. The 33-year-old has only played in three U.S. Opens in his career and never made the cut. 

Miles Russell: The youngest player ever to make a cut on KFT, the 15-year-old has broken AJGA records and is ranked #1 on the AJGA Rolex Rankings. He’ll look to add to his impressive summer resume. 

Other Notables

Sam Bennett

Ryan Gerard

Spencer Levin

Brad Hopfinger

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Full Field

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