Amateurs to Make Splash at U.S. Open


Sixteen amateurs have made the 156-player field for the 115th U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, the most since the 1981 U.S. Open, when 18 played. Gunn Yang, the 2014 U.S. Amateur champion, is among this group. Yang defeated Corey Conners, 2 and 1, in the final. Oliver Schniederjans earned the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Bradley Neil won the 2014 British Amateur Championship.

Cole Hammer of Houston is the third-youngest player to compete in the U.S. Open. The 15-year-old is a freshman on the Kincaid School golf team. He earned All-Southwest Preparatory Conference recognition this spring and helped his squad tie for eighth at the conference championship. Hammer, who plans to attend the University of Texas in 2018, shot 64 and 68 at the Dallas, Texas, sectional qualifier.

Bryson DeChambeau, of Clovis, Calif., won the 2015 NCAA Division I individual championship and is a member of the Southern Methodist University team. He has played in 10 USGA championships and was a quarterfinalist in the 2014 U.S. Amateur Public Links. DeChambeau, who helped the USA to victory in the 2014 World Amateur Team Championship, reached the Round of 16 with partner Austin Smotherman in the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.

Sam Horsfield, 18, of England, advanced to the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur semifinals and the quarterfinals the previous year. He reached the Round of 64 at last year's U.S. Amateur and made match play in all three U.S. Amateur Public Links he played. Horsfield, who won the 2013 Florida State Amateur and has lived in the state since age 5, will attend the University of Florida in 2015-16.

Denny McCarthy, of Rockville, Md., has played in nine USGA championships, including six U.S. Amateurs. He advanced to the U.S. Amateur semifinals last year, losing to Corey Conners. McCarthy is the first player in the history of the University of Virginia program to earn All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors four times. He also helped the USA Team win the 2014 World Amateur Team Championship.

Beau Hossler, of Mission Viejo, Calif., was chosen 2015 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore on the University of Texas team. Hossler played in the 2011 U.S. Open at age 16 and tied for 29th in the 2012 U.S. Open. He qualified for match play in last year's U.S. Amateur.

Davis Riley, 18, of Hattiesburg, Miss., was the runner-up in both the 2013 and 2014 U.S. Junior Amateurs. He received the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports Moment Award for sportsmanship after calling a penalty on himself in the 2013 Junior Amateur final. Riley, a senior at Presbyterian Christian, will attend the University of Alabama in the fall.

Nick Hardy, 19, of Northbrook, Ill., is a freshman at the University of Illinois who recently helped the Illini advance to the NCAA Championships for the eighth consecutive year. Hardy reached the Round of 64 in the 2013 U.S. Amateur and made match play in the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2012 and 2013.

Brian Campbell, of Irvine, Calif., is a senior at the University of Illinois. He was chosen first-team All-Big Ten Conference for the second straight year and was the conference's top player in 2014. He advanced through local and sectional qualifying to play in his first U.S. Open last year, where he missed the cut by one stroke.

Matthew NeSmith, of Augusta, S.C., shot rounds of 63 and 64 to earn medalist honors in the Ball Ground, Ga., sectional qualifier. He became the second University of South Carolina player to win the SEC Championship and led the Gamecocks to a tie for second in the team standings. NeSmith advanced to match play in the 2014 U.S. Amateur and 2011 U.S. Junior Amateur.

Lee McCoy earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors as a junior on the University of Georgia squad. McCoy was co-medalist in the 2014 U.S. Amateur before losing in the Round of 64 to Nathan Smith. He qualified for match play at both the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Junior Amateurs.

Jack Maguire joined Hossler, McCoy, DeChambeau and Schniederjans among a group of first-team All-Americans. Maguire also earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference recognition at Florida State University this spring. Kyle Jones was named All-Big 12 Conference as a senior at Baylor University. Jake Knapp helped UCLA reach the quarterfinal round of match play in the 2015 NCAA Championship.

There have been at least 10 amateurs in eight of the past nine U.S. Opens. Twelve amateurs played in last year's U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Matthew Fitzpatrick, who tied for 48th, was the low amateur. John Goodman was the last amateur to win the championship, in 1933.

The above report is courtesy of the USGA. For more information, visit www.usga.org.