5 golfers advance in U.S. Open qualifying

HIGHLAND — The 8-foot birdie putt that Luke Swilor drained on the first playoff hole Monday evening at Alpine Country Club was just as important as the round of 67 fired earlier in the day by Clay Ogden.

Both will be joining Tony Finau, Nick Killpack and Michael McRae in the sectional qualifying for next month's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Ogden simply earned his spot in the next stage without having to go overtime, and with a lot less uncertainty and little less sweat.

At Monday's first-stage qualifying, five of 84 earned the right to advance. Ogden was medalist with his 5-under 67, followed by Finau and Killpack who shot 68 each, and McRae with a 69.

Swilor, who finished earlier in the day, had to stick around about five hours to see if his 2-under 70 was good enough for a berth. It turned out to get him into a playoff with Bruce Summerhays Jr., Dustin Volk and Todd Francis for the final spot.

All four reached the par-4 No. 1, the first playoff hole, in regulation. After Francis, Volk and Summerhays missed their birdie attempts, Swilor calmly rolled his putt in to grab the final spot. Francis earned the first alternate spot with a birdie on the third playoff hole.

Shooting 71 and missing the playoff by one shot were Jared Shears, Dan Horner, Zac Blair, Jim Blair, Daniel Reid, Esteban Calisto, Nick Despain and Dusty Fielding. At 72, and missing the mark by two, were Joe Parkinson, Joe Webber, Tom King, Chance Cota, Robbie Fillmore, Tracy Zobell, Chris Moody, Gary Knight, Kyle Chappell and Todd Miller.

Ogden, with birdies on four, five, seven and nine, shot a 4-under 32 on the front side. He birdied No. 10 to reach 5-under par but made bogeys on 11 and 13 to drop back to 3-under. Still, he recognized he was in good position to qualify if he just made pars the rest of the way.

"I certainly wasn't trying to knock down any pins," Ogden said.

Regardless, he closed by making birdies at 14 and 15 to finish ahead of the pack.

"I played pretty well," Ogden said. "I didn't necessarily hit my driver great, but I putted really well."

The five qualifiers have until May 21 to pick one of 13 sectional sites where they'll try to earn a spot from that 36-hole event into the U.S. Open, set for June 17-20 at Pebble Beach.

Ogden and Killpack will likely play in a sectional in Columbus, Ohio. Finau and Swilor are expected to move on to a sectional in Denver. McRae is going to try to earn a trip to the U.S. Open at an event in Portland, Ore.