LIV golf's Carlos Ortiz qualifies for U.S. Open after winning 7-hole playoff at Pine Tree Golf Club
BOYNTON BEACH — Carlos Ortiz wasn’t in a celebratory mood Monday after qualifying for his first major championship in more than a year.
The Jupiter resident was exhausted after playing 43 holes of golf, finally ending the marathon day with a 3-foot birdie to win a seven-hole playoff over Luis Gagne and Wesley Bryant in the final U.S. Open qualifier at Pine Tree Golf Club.
With an exquisite approach shot at Pine Tree’s difficult seventh hole, Ortiz clinched his spot in next week’s national championship at Los Angeles Country Club. Playing in the final grouping, Ortiz shot 67-71 to make the playoff.
“I’m just glad it’s over,” Ortiz said. “I hate playing in this event because it’s such a long day. I hope I never have to play in another one.”
Ortiz and Bryant were the only players in the field who have won PGA Tour events. But Ortiz has dropped to 378th in the world rankings after he joined LIV and has qualified for one major, last year’s PGA, since 2021.
“That’s just the way it is in golf these days,” said Ortiz, who chipped in for birdie on the fourth playoff hole to stay alive. “I’m just glad to be back playing in a major.”
Ortiz will be joined at Los Angeles Country Club by medalist Austen Truslow of Tampa and Auburn sophomore Brendan Valdes of Orlando. Truslow, a 27-year-old with no tour status, earned medalist honors at 5-under 135 after rounds of 66 and 69.
“I tried to treat this like another Monday qualifier,” said Truslow, who has Monday-qualified for two PGA Tour events this year. “I’ve learned it’s not difficult to get into tournaments, but it’s difficult to play well against the best players. It’s incredible to think I will be playing in the U.S. Open.”
Truslow’s story is perseverance. He has had two surgeries on his left wrist that cost him two years and prompted him to consider selling insurance. He was so frustrated, he stopped watching golf on TV in the last year – except the U.S. Open.
“That’s my favorite event,” Truslow said.
Due partly to the injury, Truslow sometimes chips one-handed. He said he started the one-handed chipping as a drill, but slowly worked it into his game during competition. Truslow tapes his left wrist for stability, saying he had to have “permission from the PGA Tour to wrap it like this.”
Valdes overcame a double bogey on his 32nd hole after he lost his tee shot with birdies on his 34th and 35th holes to clinch his first U.S. Open appearance. He shot 3-under 137.
“I didn’t think it was that bad of a drive,” Valdes said. “But we never found it. I knew I had to get something going. I’m proud of that comeback.”
Berger, Wolff, Biondi withdraw
The hopes of the 50 players in the field were boosted when three of the biggest names withdrew beforehand: Jupiter residents Daniel Berger and Matthew Wolff and recent NCAA champion Fred Biondi.
Berger (back) hasn’t played since last year’s U.S. Open and Wolff, who was runner-up in the 2020 U.S. Open, reportedly left Brooks Koepka’s team on LIV Golf a week ago amid an injury.
Biondi turned down an exemption from the USGA for winning the NCAA individual title because the Florida Gator instead turned professional Monday (he needed to remain an amateur to use the spot). The USGA could offer Biondi a special exemption.
There’s no guarantee, of course, that talented trio would have qualified had they played Monday. A year ago, Wolff walked off the course during the final qualifier at Admiral’s Cove when he hit a drive into a penalty area on the 27th hole, three shots out of qualifying.
Fifteen-year-old Cameron Kuchar of Jupiter failed to join his father, Matt, a nine-time PGA Tour winner, in the U.S. Open, finishing 37th after a pair of 76s. But the younger Kuchar had a highlight to remember Monday.
At his closing hole in the morning round, his approach plugged deep into the face of a greenside bunker. He had no option but to swing as hard as he could to extricate the ball, which rolled to the bottom of the bunker. Then he holed the fourth shot for an unlikely par, much to the delight of his mother, Sybi, and grandfather, Peter.
“It was a great way to end the round,” Cameron Kuchar said. “I learned I can hang with these guys.”
Matt was in Canada to prepare for this week’s RBC Canadian Open – he’s an RBC ambassador – so he missed the qualifier. Asked what advice her husband had given Cameron, Sybi Kuchar said: “Remember you’re just 15 and try to have fun.”
Stuart resident Garrett Barber, who just turned professional after a fine college career at LSU, finished two shots out of the playoff at even par 140.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: LIV golf's Carlos Ortiz qualifies for U.S. Open, after playing 43 holes
