2019 U.S. Open Championship – Sectional Qualifying Storylines

Qualifier held at Bent Tree Country Club & Northwood Club on Monday, May 20

To assist with your coverage of U.S. Open sectional qualifying on Monday, May 20, the following storylines have been developed for the Dallas, Texas site.

A separate storylines document will be distributed for sectional qualifying on Monday, June 3 (eight U.S. sites, England and Canada). The 119th U.S. Open Championship will be contested from June 13-16 at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links.

Note: The final size of the field, along with the final number of available spots, will be announced on Monday, May 20. Scoring from the Dallas, Texas, sectional qualifier will be available  at usopen.com/qualifying/sectional.html..

Social media: Follow sectional qualifying action @usopengolf and join the conversation with #USOpen and #RoadtoPebbleBeach.

Bent Tree Country Club & Northwood Club
Dallas, Texas; 102 players for TBD spots

• Shane Bacon, 35, of Phoenix, Ariz., is a host and play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports who covers USGA championships. He will announce the final round of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship, in Southern Pines, N.C., on Sunday before traveling to Texas for the qualifier. Bacon, who attended Marshall (Texas) High School and the University of Arizona, shot a 68 in the Phoenix, Ariz., local qualifier to advance to sectional play. He spent the summer of 2006 as a caddie at St. Andrews in Scotland and has carried the bag for players on the LPGA Tour.
• Angel Cabrera, 49, of Argentina, won the 2007 U.S. Open, a one-stroke victory over Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, and the 2009 Masters in a playoff over Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell. Cabrera has competed in 18 U.S. Opens and has posted four top-25 finishes. He also owns three PGA European Tour victories.
• Chad Campbell, 44, of Andrews, Texas, has competed in 11 U.S. Opens, with his best finish a tie for 18th in 2008. He was runner-up with Kenny Perry in the 2009 Masters to Angel Cabrera and was the runner-up to Shaun Micheel in the 2003 PGA Championship. He owns four PGA Tour victories, including the 2003 Tour Championship.
• Austin Connelly, 22, of Irving, Texas, has played on the PGA European Tour after advancing through 2016 Qualifying School. He has competing in five USGA championships, including two U.S. Amateurs and the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, when he and partner Sam Burns advanced to the semifinals. In 2017, he tied for 14th in The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
• Pierceson Coody, 19, of Plano, Texas, is the grandson of Charles Coody, who played in 18 U.S. Opens and won the 1971 Masters Tournament. Coody, a freshman at the University of Texas, helped the Longhorns win the 2019 NCAA Austin Regional and tied for eighth individually. Pierceson, who captured the 2018 Byron Nelson Junior, and his twin brother, Parker, led Plano West High to the 2016 Texas UIL Class 6A state championship.
• Austin Eckroat, 20, of Edmond, Okla., is a sophomore on the Oklahoma State University team. In 2019, the Cowboys have won the Big 12 Conference and NCAA Louisville Regional titles. Eckroat, who earned honorable mention All-America honors as a freshman, shot a final-round 67 to tie for sixth in this year’s regional. He has played in two U.S. Amateurs, including last year at Pebble Beach, and was a quarterfinalist and stroke-play medalist in the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur.
• Harrison Endycott, 22, of Australia, competes on PGA Tour Latinoamerica. He helped Australia claim its fourth World Amateur Team Championship in 2016 as the Australians tied the 72-hole scoring record and won by 19 strokes in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Endycott has played in two U.S. Amateurs (2016, 2017).
• Nick Flanagan, 33, of Australia, has played in two U.S. Opens (2004, 2017). He won the 2003 U.S. Amateur, becoming the first international player to claim the championship in 32 years. Flanagan, who carded a 68 in the Kerrville, Texas, local qualifier to advance to this sectional, has captured four Nationwide Tour (now Web.com) titles.
• Talor Gooch, 27, of Midwest City, Okla., tied for 66th in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills. He was a first-team All-Big 12 Conference performer at Oklahoma State University and has competed on the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Canada and Web.com Tour. Gooch, whose father, Ron, was a second baseman in the Texas Rangers’ minor-league system, qualified for match play in both the 2012 U.S. Amateur and 2013 U.S. Amateur Public Links championships.
• Noah Goodwin, 19, of Corinth, Texas, won the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur by defeating Matthew Wolff, 1 up, in the 36-hole final. He rallied from 4 down with eight holes remaining to win the championship and earn an exemption into the 2018 U.S. Open. He has competed in nine USGA championships and advanced to the Round of 16 in last year’s U.S. Amateur. Goodwin, who is a sophomore at Southern Methodist University, has the same swing coach (Cameron McCormick) as 2015 U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth.
• Cody Gribble, 28, of Dallas, Texas, has played in two U.S. Opens (2014, 2015). He advanced through local and sectional qualifying to Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014, where he tied for 21st. Gribble and Jordan Spieth helped the University of Texas win the 2012 NCAA Championship. He posted his lone PGA Tour victory (Sanderson Farms Championship) in October 2016.
• Brian Harman, 32, of Sea Island, Ga., was the runner-up with Hideki Matsuyama to Brooks Koepka in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills. Harman, who has captured two PGA Tour titles, won the 2003 U.S. Junior Amateur and has competed in 13 USGA championships, including four U.S. Opens. He was a member of two victorious USA Walker Cup teams (2005, 2009).
• Matthew Jones, 39, of Australia, has competed in three U.S. Opens (2009, 2014, 2018). He earned first-team All-America honors at Arizona State University and turned professional in 2001. He played on the PGA Tour Australasia before moving to the Web.com Tour. He won his lone PGA Tour event at the 2014 Shell Houston Open, defeating Matt Kuchar in a playoff.
• Andrew Landry, 31, of Dripping Springs, Texas, tied for 15th in his lone U.S. Open in 2016 at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club. Landry, who held the first-round lead and played in the final group with Shane Lowry on Sunday, qualified through both stages. Landry, an All-American at the University of Arkansas, won the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open in 2018.
• Spencer Levin, 34, of Elk Grove, Calif., has competed in four U.S. Opens. Levin, who tied for 13th as an amateur in the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, has won three times on the Canadian Tour. He has played in nine USGA championships and was a member of the winning USA team in the 2004 World Amateur Team Championship.
• Trey Mullinax, 26, of Birmingham, Ala., tied for ninth in his first U.S. Open when he shot 69-68 on the weekend at Erin Hills in 2017. Mullinax, who was an All-American at the University of Alabama when the Crimson Tide claimed NCAA titles in 2013 and 2014, won once on the Web.com Tour. His best finish on the PGA Tour was a tie for second in the 2018 Valero Texas Open.
• Bryson Nimmer, 22, of Bluffton, S.C., carded a 66 to share medalist honors in the Kennesaw, Ga., local qualifier. Nimmer, a senior at Clemson University, is an honorable mention All-America and All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer. In 2019, he was third in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and tied for sixth in the NCAA Austin Regional. Nimmer advanced to the Round of 32 in the 2016 U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills.
• Alvaro Ortiz, 23, of Mexico, shot a final-round 66 to win the 2019 Latin America Amateur Championship. Ortiz, who posted a 72-hole score of 14-under 274, was the runner-up the previous year. He became the second Mexican to compete in the Masters when he tied for 36th in April. Ortiz, who played at the University of Arkansas, advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach. His older brother, Carlos, is also competing in this sectional.
• Carlos Ortiz, 28, of Mexico, was the 2014 Web.com Player of the Year and has played on the PGA Tour. Ortiz, who attended the University of North Texas, helped Mexico to a runner-up finish in the 2012 World Amateur Team Championship. His younger brother, Alvaro, won the 2019 Latin America Amateur Championship and tied for 36th in this year’s Masters.
• John Peterson, 30, of Fort Worth, Texas, has played in two U.S. Opens, including a tie for fourth at The Olympic Club in 2012. He was a three-time All-American at Louisiana State University (LSU) and won the 2011 NCAA individual title. Peterson retired from professional golf last year but has since returned.
• Martin Piller, 33, of Dallas, Texas, is married to LPGA Tour player Gerina Piller. Martin, who was a member of the Texas A&M University team, has registered six Web.com Tour victories. Gerina has played in six U.S. Women’s Opens. Her best finish was a tie for eighth at CordeValle in 2016.
• Scottie Scheffler, 22, of Dallas, Texas, was low amateur (T-27) in the 2017 U.S. Open and was a member of the victorious 2017 USA Walker Cup Team. He earned first-team All-America recognition at the University of Texas and has six top-10 finishes on the Web.com Tour this year. Scheffler, who won the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur, has competed in 12 USGA championships.
• Nick Taylor, 31, of Canada, has played in two U.S. Opens and was low amateur (T-36) at Bethpage State Park (Black Course) in 2009. Taylor, who was the runner-up in the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links, won the Mark H. McCormack Medal in 2009 as the world’s top-ranked amateur. He won his lone PGA Tour event in 2014 (Sanderson Farms Championship).
• Travis Vick, 19, of Houston, Texas, advanced to match play in last year’s U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach. He has reached match play in all three U.S. Junior Amateurs in which he competed and recorded the first known double eagle in the championship’s history in 2018 at Baltusrol. Vick, who is also a football and basketball standout, is a family friend of Hal Sutton, who competed in 18 U.S. Opens and won the 1980 U.S. Amateur and 1983 PGA Championship.
• Mike Weir, 49, of Canada, has played in 13 U.S. Opens and recorded four top-10 finishes, with his best result a tie for third at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club in 2003. Weir has won eight times on the PGA Tour, including the 2003 Masters and 2001 Tour Championship.
• Tucker Wadkins, 26, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is the son of World Golf Hall of Famer and television analyst Lanny Wadkins. Lanny played in 20 U.S. Opens, including a tie for second in 1986 at Shinnecock Hills, and won the 1970 U.S. Amateur. Lanny also won the 1977 PGA Championship at Pebble Beach, defeating Gene Littler in a playoff. Tucker, who is competing on Mackenzie Tour-Canada, was a member of the University of Arizona team, from 2011-15.
• Shuai Ming (Ben) Wong, 19, of Hong Kong China, is a freshman at Southern Methodist University (SMU). The Mustangs were second in the American Athletic Conference Championship and fourth in the NCAA Athens Regional. Wong and partner Frankie Capan won the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Pinehurst No. 2. Wong reached the quarterfinal round of last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur, when he also tied the championship record for most times played with five.

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