Small Qualifies for U.S. Open
June 5, 2007 | Men's Golf
June 5, 2007
Champaign, Ill. - Illinois head men's golf coach Mike Small has qualified for the 2007 U.S. Open. Small earned a berth to the Open by sharing medalist honors yesterday at the North Riverside, Ill. Sectional Qualifier, held at Riverside Golf Course. In his first time playing the course, Small shot 71-69=140 to tie Jeff Brehaut as low qualifier and earn one of the five automatic spots that was allocated to the North Riverside site.
"The U.S. Open is an event that I try to qualify for every year, as long as it fits into my schedule," Small said. "If you're an American playing competitive golf, you take a great deal of pride in this event. It is the biggest tournament of the year. The only thing better than this is if one of our players had made it. I think the most excited I've ever been about the U.S. Open was when we had Patrick Nagle qualify last summer."
The 2007 U.S. Open Championship is scheduled for June 14-17 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. This will be Small's third appearance at the U.S. Open, and his first as Illinois coach. He previously played in the 1994 Open at Oakmont and the 1998 Open at The Olympic Club during his days as a professional. This also marks Small's sixth career appearance in a major. He has also played in three PGA Championships (2004-Whistling Straits, 2005-Baltusrol, 2006-Medinah).
