Wellesley’s Michael Thorbjornsen earned medalist honors in a 36-hole final qualifier for the US Open in Summit, N.J., Monday, the Stanford star earning a place at Los Angeles Country Club in two weeks for the year’s third men’s major.
Thorbjornsen, who missed the cut at The Country Club last summer, shot 8-under 134 for 36 holes to earn one of four spots among 67 competitors. It will be his third US Open; he finished 79th as a 17-year-old (and reigning US Junior Amateur champion) in 2019.
Thorbjornsen was in contention at last summer’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn., competing on a sponsor’s exemption and nearly becoming the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991. He finished fourth, four shots behind winner Xander Schauffele, then earned first-team All-American honors and Pac-12 Golfer of the Year as a junior for the Cardinal.
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Among the others to earn one of 45 available spots across 10 36-hole qualifiers Monday were 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia, a LIV Golf player who shot 9 under to narrowly avoid a playoff in Dallas, and 2009 British Open champion Stewart Cink, who shot 9 under in Columbus, Ohio, to make the field as a 50-year-old.
PGA Championship star and teaching pro Michael Block was among those who came up short, missing a playoff for a place by two shots at a Toronto qualifier.