Brett Ludwiczak
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Ohio State golfers Neal Shipley and Maxwell Moldovan tee it up at the 124th U.S. Open
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
The Buckeyes will be looking to try and solve Pinehurst, No. 2 course this week.
The 124th U.S. Open kicks off on Thursday, and two Buckeyes will be part of the field at Pinehurst, No. 2 in North Carolina.
Maxwell Moldovan and Neal Shipley will be looking to win the annual open national championship of golf in the United States. The total prize fund for this year’s U.S. Open will be $21.5 million, with $4.3 million going to the winner of this year’s event.
This is the third of golf’s four major championships. Scottie Scheffler won the Masters back in April in Georgia, followed by Xander Schauffele notching his first major victory last month at the PGA Championship in Louisville.
Shipley’s spot in the field was sewn up a long time ago when he finished second in the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship, falling to Alabama’s Nick Dunlap 4 & 3 in the final. This will be the second major championship of the year for Shipley, who finished as the low amateur at the Masters. Shipley played the final round of the tournament with Tiger Woods.
The Buckeye shot a 73 on Sunday, finishing his round four shots better than the legendary golfer.
Even though Shipley has exhausted his college eligibility and will start playing next week on the North American Swing of PGA Tour Americas, he will have to compete in the U.S. Open as an amateur, which is a requirement since he earned his spot in the field because of his finish in the 2023 U.S. Amateur.
Joining Shipley on the PGA’s third-tier tour will be Moldovan and former Buckeye Caleb Ramirez. The North American Swing of PGA Tour Americas will provide golfers opportunities to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Q-School.
The other Buckeye teeing it up at this year’s U.S. Open is Maxwell Moldovan, who will be making his third appearance in the major. After missing the cut in 2022 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, Moldovan was an alternate in last year’s field and made the most of his opportunity, finishing in 65th place at the Los Angeles Country Club. It’s a bit of deja vu for Moldovan this year, as he was an alternate following qualifying before learning he would be included in this year’s field.
It has been a busy last few weeks for Moldovan. After Ohio State made a run to the NCAA Championship semifinals at the end of May, Moldovan was a player marker for the first two rounds of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club on Thursday and Friday. Because the tournament had an odd number of players in the field, Moldovan played with Davis Thompson in the first two rounds.
Following his duties at the Memorial, Moldovan went to Springfield, Ohio for the U.S. Open qualifier, where he narrowly missed out on earning his spot before making the field as an alternate.
Shipley will be paired with Nico Echavarria and Robert Rock, with the trio teeing off at the first hole at 8:24 a.m. ET on Thursday, followed by a 2:09 p.m. tee time at the 10th hole on Friday. Moldovan will tee off at the first hole with Taisei Shimizu and amateur Gunnar Broin Thursday afternoon at 2:31 p.m. Their second round tee time at the 10th hole on Friday will be at 8:46 a.m. ET.
All the golfers in this week’s field will be looking to try and beat Scheffler, who is the hottest golfer on the planet right now. Not only did Scheffler win the Masters back in April, he is coming off a win at last week’s Memorial Tournament in Dublin, marking his fifth win of the season. The defending champion of the U.S. Open is Wyndham Clark, who earned his first major championship victory last year in Los Angeles.
This year’s U.S. Open will be played at Pinehurst, No.2 course, which is a Par 70. This marks the fourth time the tournament will be held at the Donald J. Ross designed course. Martin Kaymer won by eight strokes in 2014 over Erik Compton and Rickie Fowler, while Michael Campbell won in 2005 and the late Payne Stewart won his second U.S. Open in 1999.
While many U.S. Open courses are famous for their extremely difficult rough, Pinehurst will throw a challenge at players since many of their greens are crowned. Years ago, Johnny Miller said trying to land a shot on a green at Pinehurst is like, “trying to hit a ball on top of a VW Beetle”.
Coverage for Thursday’s first round can be found on USA and Peacock, followed by NBC and Peacock providing second round coverage on Friday. USA will open coverage on Saturday and Sunday morning before NBC has the conclusion of rounds three and four starting at noon.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
The Buckeyes will be looking to try and solve Pinehurst, No. 2 course this week.
The 124th U.S. Open kicks off on Thursday, and two Buckeyes will be part of the field at Pinehurst, No. 2 in North Carolina.
Maxwell Moldovan and Neal Shipley will be looking to win the annual open national championship of golf in the United States. The total prize fund for this year’s U.S. Open will be $21.5 million, with $4.3 million going to the winner of this year’s event.
This is the third of golf’s four major championships. Scottie Scheffler won the Masters back in April in Georgia, followed by Xander Schauffele notching his first major victory last month at the PGA Championship in Louisville.
Shipley’s spot in the field was sewn up a long time ago when he finished second in the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship, falling to Alabama’s Nick Dunlap 4 & 3 in the final. This will be the second major championship of the year for Shipley, who finished as the low amateur at the Masters. Shipley played the final round of the tournament with Tiger Woods.
The Buckeye shot a 73 on Sunday, finishing his round four shots better than the legendary golfer.
Even though Shipley has exhausted his college eligibility and will start playing next week on the North American Swing of PGA Tour Americas, he will have to compete in the U.S. Open as an amateur, which is a requirement since he earned his spot in the field because of his finish in the 2023 U.S. Amateur.
Joining Shipley on the PGA’s third-tier tour will be Moldovan and former Buckeye Caleb Ramirez. The North American Swing of PGA Tour Americas will provide golfers opportunities to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Q-School.
The other Buckeye teeing it up at this year’s U.S. Open is Maxwell Moldovan, who will be making his third appearance in the major. After missing the cut in 2022 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, Moldovan was an alternate in last year’s field and made the most of his opportunity, finishing in 65th place at the Los Angeles Country Club. It’s a bit of deja vu for Moldovan this year, as he was an alternate following qualifying before learning he would be included in this year’s field.
It has been a busy last few weeks for Moldovan. After Ohio State made a run to the NCAA Championship semifinals at the end of May, Moldovan was a player marker for the first two rounds of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club on Thursday and Friday. Because the tournament had an odd number of players in the field, Moldovan played with Davis Thompson in the first two rounds.
Following his duties at the Memorial, Moldovan went to Springfield, Ohio for the U.S. Open qualifier, where he narrowly missed out on earning his spot before making the field as an alternate.
Shipley will be paired with Nico Echavarria and Robert Rock, with the trio teeing off at the first hole at 8:24 a.m. ET on Thursday, followed by a 2:09 p.m. tee time at the 10th hole on Friday. Moldovan will tee off at the first hole with Taisei Shimizu and amateur Gunnar Broin Thursday afternoon at 2:31 p.m. Their second round tee time at the 10th hole on Friday will be at 8:46 a.m. ET.
All the golfers in this week’s field will be looking to try and beat Scheffler, who is the hottest golfer on the planet right now. Not only did Scheffler win the Masters back in April, he is coming off a win at last week’s Memorial Tournament in Dublin, marking his fifth win of the season. The defending champion of the U.S. Open is Wyndham Clark, who earned his first major championship victory last year in Los Angeles.
This year’s U.S. Open will be played at Pinehurst, No.2 course, which is a Par 70. This marks the fourth time the tournament will be held at the Donald J. Ross designed course. Martin Kaymer won by eight strokes in 2014 over Erik Compton and Rickie Fowler, while Michael Campbell won in 2005 and the late Payne Stewart won his second U.S. Open in 1999.
While many U.S. Open courses are famous for their extremely difficult rough, Pinehurst will throw a challenge at players since many of their greens are crowned. Years ago, Johnny Miller said trying to land a shot on a green at Pinehurst is like, “trying to hit a ball on top of a VW Beetle”.
Coverage for Thursday’s first round can be found on USA and Peacock, followed by NBC and Peacock providing second round coverage on Friday. USA will open coverage on Saturday and Sunday morning before NBC has the conclusion of rounds three and four starting at noon.
Continue reading...