U.S. Open Preview (Georgia Bulldog edition)

Golf’s third major is this week and eight former Bulldogs are in the field, trying to become the first Georgia player to win the prestigious U.S. Open.

The 121st edition of the U.S. Open will be played in San Diego at the Torrey Pines Golf Course. Georgia alums have been the runner-up four different times. Last year, seven Bulldogs were in the field and one of them finished in the top five.

Harris English - 25th in Official World Golf Rankings

Harris has had an outstanding season on the PGA Tour. He has made 15 of 19 cuts and has five top-10s. One of his top-10s was a victory at the Sentry Tournament of Champions out in Hawaii early January. He made the cut both times in the majors in 2021. He finished tied for 21st at the Masters and tied for 64th at the PGA Championship. In last year's U.S. Open, he had he best ever major finish when he finished fourth overall and was tied for third after two rounds. Here is his complete history at the U.S. Open.

Brian Harman - 47th in Official World Golf Rankings

Brian has been a real steady golfer all season long. He has made 18 of 20 cuts and four top 10 finishes. His best finish came in The Players Championship where he notched a tie for third after four subpar rounds. He followed that event with a tied-for-fifth showing at the WGC-Dell Tech Match Play and then tied for 12th at the Masters. He did not fare as well at the other major this season when he shot back-to-back 75s and missed the cut at the PGA Championship. He has played the U.S. Open five times and at the 2017 event in Erin Hills, he had his best-ever major finish. Here are all his career results at the U.S. Open.

Russell Henley - 63rd in Official World Golf Rankings

Russell has made 13 of 18 cuts so far this season on the PGA Tour and twice finished tied for third. The first time was last October at The CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. The last time was The Honda Classic down in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, back in March. He did not play in the Masters this year, but he made the cut and finished tied for 71st at the PGA Championship. Overall he has done well at the U.S. Open as he made the cut in five of seven tries. The first time was in 2010 when he finished tied for 16th and was tied for low amateur with Scott Langley. However he has not played at the U.S. Open since 2018. Here is what his career looks like at this major.

Kevin Kisner - 51st in Offical World Golf Rankings

Kevin has played 18 tournaments this season and made the cut in nine of them. He does have a second-place finish when he lost in playoff to Robert Streb at the RSM Classic in Sea Island last November. He has missed the cut in his last four majors for the first time ever. That includes the two from this season and last year's U.S. Open. The missed cut at the U.S. Open was his first at that major was just the third time he missed the cut at this prestigous event. Here is his career at the U.S. Open.

Spencer Ralston - Amateur

Spencer is a name some of you might not recognize. The Gainesville, Georgia native recently completed his collegiate eligibilty at the University of Georgia. As a Dawg, he played in 51 of a possible 52 tournaments. This season's co-captain placed second at the SEC Championship and in 2019 reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Amateur. He played on the PGA Tour at the 2020 RBC Heritage and shot both rounds under par. He ended up three under, but missed the cut by one stroke. Spencer qualified by finishing tied for third in the final qualifier at Piedmont Driving Club earlier this month.

Greyson Sigg - 168th in Official World Golf Rankings

Also finishing tied for third at Piedmont was Greyson Sigg. This former Bulldog has played in six career PGA Tour events and made the cut in half of them. One of the made cuts was at Corales Puntacana in the Dominican Republic back in March. He shot even par in the first round and under par in the other three. He finished tied for ninth with one of his former Georgia teammates Sepp Straka. Greyson played in last year's U.S. Open but missed the cut after shooting a 75, 85.

Brendon Todd - 62nd in Official World Golf Rankings

Brendon has had a very good season so far as he has made 17 of 21 cuts. He has two Top 10 finishes including an eighth-place tie last month at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He finished tied for 46th at the Masters, but missed the cut at the PGA Championship. Todd has had mixed success in this major. At his first U.S. Open back in 2014, he was in second place after the second round before finishing tied for 17th. Here are all his results at the U.S. Open.

Bubba Watson - 61st in Official World Golf Rankings

Bubba is still the only former Bulldog to win a major (I do not count Patrick Reed). He has played well this season, making the cut in 12 of 16 events which includes withdrawing after one round at the Memorial. Prior to that, he finished 80th at the PGA Championship and had five straight tournaments in which he finished in the top-26. He tied for 26th at the Masters. Overall he has four Top-10s and seven Top-25s this season. This will be his 15th U.S. Open with his best finish happening in one of his early ones. That finish is still one of the best ever by a former Dawg. Also, is the only Bulldog in the field who has played this course as a U.S. Open. He also won at Torrey Pines in a regular tour event. Here are all his results at the U.S. Open.

Only three Bulldogs were in the field the last time the U.S. Open was played at Torrey Pines. Ryuji Imada had the best finish among the three, finishing tied for 18th. Chris Kirk was tied for 78th and Watson missed the cut.

If this course sounds familiar, it should. It is also the home of the Farmers Insurance Open and prior to 2010, the Buick Invitational among other names. Watson won the event in 2011 by one stroke over Phil Mickelson and three strokes over Dustin Johnson. A few other times, a Dawg was runner-up (Billy Kratzert – 1979, Chip Beck – 1992, Imada in 2008 and English in 2015).

NOTE: Trent Phillips, a rising UGA senior, went 2-1-1 in his matches to help the United States regain the Arnold Palmer Cup this past week. Team USA defeated the International Team 33-27 in the event held in Sugar Grove, Illinois. The University of Georgia has a rich history of this event. Head coach Chris Haack was the captain of the 2002 and 2006 United States team and former Dawgs Nick Cassini, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Adam Mitchell, Erik Compton, Ryan Hybl, Lee McCoy, Michael Morrison and Davis Thompson all played.

Here are the tee times for the former Bulldogs during the first round.

Kisner may have extra motivation for he is paired with a Gator and a Yellow Jacket in his first two rounds.