May was a marathon for Cole Hammer, and June is picking up steam now too. The 21-year-old junior at the University of Texas earned his spot in the U.S. Open on Wednesday a day after the completion of Final Qualifying.
Hammer left his qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday morning as the first alternate, but earned a spot when Mikko Korhonen, who was one of 10 players who earned an exemption in the three-event U.S. Open 2021 European Tour Qualifying Series, withdrew.
Hammer opened a 36-hole day on Monday at Brookside Golf & Country Club with a 73. After clawing back with a 65 at The Lakes Golf & Country Club, he was part of a 5-for-4 playoff the following morning that determined the final spots from that site. Hammer lost out to Texas teammate Pierceson Coody, Peter Malnati, Tom Hoge and Jhonattan Vegas and instead earned alternate status.
U.S. Open Final Qualifying: Final results
Although he struggled a bit in the NCAA Tournament, his coach at Texas, John Fields, said Hammer has found a happy place heading into a crucial stretch that includes this week’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree — a replacement event for the RBC Canadian Open — the U.S. Open and then the British Open. Hammer tees off in the first round at Congaree at 1:16 p.m. on Thursday.
“Cole made some really good decisions in the fall,” Fields said. “He was really struggling with his golf swing. He went back and worked with Bruce Davidson, and went back to his home base at River Oaks, and started working through things.
“He was in a bit of a slump for almost 18 months, but I really think he has righted the ship. He had a few putting issues — and he’s a really good putter — but he’s hitting the golf ball as well as he ever has.“
Hammer’s trip to Torrey Pines next week will mark his third U.S. Open start, including his first at age 15 in 2015 at Chambers Bay. In the time between, Hammer has been a member of two winning U.S. Walker Cup Teams (2019, 2021).
Last month at the Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, Hammer holed the clinching putt and earned three and a half points for the Americans after playing all four sessions.
Fields, of course, has seen plenty of great players come through in his 24 years at the helm. Many of those use their prowess on the greens as the path to success. Jordan Spieth, one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, is a prime example.
And in Hammer, Fields sees similar talent.
“I think the great putters, guys like Jordan and Scottie Scheffler and Cole, they sometimes put a lot of pressure on themselves to make everything,” Fields said. “But they figure it out. Cole is not unlike Jordan and Scheffler in that regard.”
Last month at the Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, Hammer holed the clinching putt and earned three and a half points for the Americans after playing all four sessions.
The world No. 17 ranked amateur was coming off individual medalist honors at the Big 12 Championship the week before, and after the Walker Cup immediately went on to play the AT&T Byron Nelson, NCAA Regionals and then the NCAA Championship.
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