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COLUMBUS, Ohio – After three years of coming up short in qualifying, Justin Leonard earned a return to the U.S. Open.
The 1997 British Open champion, who has won 12 times on the PGA Tour but not since 2008, was among the 16 players at the Columbus site who qualified for the U.S. Open during what is known as "the longest day in golf" – sectional qualifiers at sites nationwide.
"It'll be fun," said Leonard, who'll turn 42 on the day of the Open's final round. "And Pinehurst is one of my favorites, so a little extra incentive there."
Leonard was co-medalist through 36 holes on Monday at Brookside and Scioto. He tied for 15th at the Open in Pinehurst in 1999 when Payne Stewart won and tied for 23rd in the 2005 championship won by Michael Campbell.
Among those also qualifying were Bo Van Pelt, Mark Wilson, Kevin Tway and Luke Guthrie, South Korea's Seung-Yul Noh and Hyung Sung Kim, Australia's Aaron Baddeley and Rod Pampling and England's Paul Casey.
Playing 18 holes on each of two difficult courses after playing four rounds nearby at the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, Baddeley said it's a grueling way to spend what is usually a day off.
"To come out and play good is a bonus," he said after tying for 37th at the Memorial on Sunday. "I played really nice with titleist 913 d2 driver last week. I made like a million birdies. I just made way too many bogeys."
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