Ogilvy, Casey eyeing U.S. Open

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Geoff Ogilvy and Paul Casey are among the hottest players coming into the U.S. Open, each having won three times around the world over the last seven months.

While neither is paying close attention this early in the year, they at least are poised for a potential run at history. No one has ever won the money title on the PGA Tour and European Tour in the same year.

Ogilvy is No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings in America on the strength of victories in the Mercedes-Benz Championship and the Accenture Match Play Championship.

The latter is a World Golf Championship and counts on all tours, which has gone a long way in the Australian being No. 2 in the Race to Dubai on the European Tour.

Casey won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the Houston Open and was runner-up to Ogilvy at Match Play, which has helped push him to No. 10 in the FedEx Cup standings. The key on the PGA Tour is to be in position going into the FedEx Cup playoffs, which feature four consecutive $7 million events.

The Englishman also won the BMW Championship at Wentworth and the Abu Dhabi Championship, which has given him a sizable lead in the Race to Dubai.

The U.S. Open will count toward both money lists, as will the final two majors and the Bridgestone Invitational.

"That would be pretty cool," Ogilvy said about the prospects of leading both money lists.

"No one has ever done it? I'm sure Tiger has done it, hasn't he?"

Before waiting on an answer, Ogilvy realized that Woods has never taken up membership on the European Tour by playing a minimum 11 tournaments and being eligible for the Order of Merit.

BIG BREAK: Few players deserve a good break like J.P. Hayes, and he finally got one.

The 43-year-old Hayes earned notoriety last year for disqualifying himself at Q-school on the PGA Tour when he discovered he inadvertently used a golf ball that had not been approved yet for tournament play. He has no status on tour, so he had to go through local and sectional qualifying to reach the U.S. Open.

Hayes signed up for local qualifying near his home in El Paso on May 12, which was a Tuesday.

But it became complicated when he received a sponsor's exemption to the Texas Open, which asked that in return he play in the Monday pro-am.

Getting from San Antonio to El Paso was not only a long trip, but an expensive one.