Former Texas golfers Scheffler, Spieth among top contenders for U.S. Open
By: Steve Habel, for Inside Texas
Four golfers who played, or still play, collegiately for the University of Texas will be among the 156-player field for the 2022 U.S. Open, the national championship of American golf, when the 120th rendition of the tournament tees off on Thursday at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, a four-time winner this season, and three-time Major champion Jordan Spieth will lead the quartet of Longhorns at the venerable, history-laden venue in the southwest suburbs of Boston.
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They will be joined by current PGA Tour pro Beau Hossler and current Texas player Travis Vick, both of whom qualified through elimination tournaments earlier this month to be a part of the U.S. Open field.
Spieth is the most recent Longhorns’ player to win the U.S. Open, capturing the championship in 2015 at Chambers Bay in Tacoma, Washington. The only other Texas alum to win the event is Tom Kite in 1992 at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Scheffler turned professional in 2018 after a successful four-year career at Texas. He won low-amateur honors in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills a year after he missed the cut at Oakmont Country Club despite a first-round 69.
Scheffler broke through for his first PGA Tour win in a playoff at the WM Phoenix Open in February 2022 and then rallied to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in his next event. This year’s Masters Tournament winner ascended to the top spot in the world with his victory in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin.
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Scheffler tied for career-best seventh last year at Torrey Pines, his fourth U.S. Open start overall and his second as a professional. He heads to Brookline off a tie for 18th in the RBC Canadian Open last week at St. George’s Golf Club in Toronto, which has Golden Age-designed course like that at The Country Club.
“It was definitely a good warm-up,” Scheffler said Sunday. “I like playing the week before. [St. George’s] actually has a fairly similar look to a few of the holes in Boston. These greens have a lot of slope and those greens have a lot of slope, so there’s definitely some similarities which will help for next week.
“I’m just coming out here and trying to do the best I can, and results will be the results,” he added. “Things don’t really change too much for me – overall I feel like my game is in a good spot.”
Spieth became the youngest player since Bob Jones in 1923 to win the U.S. Open in 2015 when he was 21 after he captured the Masters earlier in the season.
Spieth was low amateur in the U.S. Open following his freshman year at the Texas in 2012, the year the Longhorns captured their first national championship since 1972.
In April 2021, Spieth ended a four-year victory drought when he won the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, and then tasted victory again three months ago at the RBC Heritage.
Spieth finished tied for 19th last year in Torrey Pines and has earned 10 starts in the U.S. Open. He heads to Brookline with no knowledge of the course, a likely refrain among many players.
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“I really don’t know anything about (The Country Club),” Spieth explained on Saturday. “I’ve never played it. So maybe that’s a good thing for U.S. Opens, just go in with a clean slate.You don’t kind of have a lot of worries – don’t go here, don’t go there. Instead it’s where to go sometimes when you have a little less time to prepare.”
Over his past 50 rounds, Spieth has gained 1.24 strokes per round from tee-to-green, which is the 11th-best mark of anyone in this field. Combine that with the creativity required at The Country Club, and Spieth has to be considered one of the favorites this week.
“I’ve been driving the ball a lot better this last year and a half, which gives me a chance at a U.S. Open,” Spieth said. “If you don’t drive it straight and far you don’t have a chance, and I’ve been doing both really well this year.”
Hossler staked his spot in the field via a 5-under-par 135 over 36 holes at the final qualifying event at Springfield Country Club in Ohio. He turned professional in 2016 with one year of eligibility remaining at Texas and is still seeking his first professional victory.
As a 17-year-old Hossler briefly held the lead during the second round of the 2012 U.S. Open at The Olympic Club before settling for a share of 29th. This will be his fourth U.S. Open start, but first as a professional. He also made the cut in 2015 while a standout at Texas and missed the cut as a 16-year-old at Congressional in 2011.
Vick forged a 9-under-par 133 over 36 holes in final qualifying at Lakewood Country Club and Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas to earn his spot in the U.S. Open. He was exempt from local qualifying by virtue of being a 2021 U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist. It is his first U.S. Open
Dylan Frittelli and Kramer Hickok, two former Texas players who are on the PGA Tour, also played in Dallas but did not advance. PGA Tour pro and former Longhorn Doug Gihm played in a qualifier in Columbus, Ohio but withdrew after an opening round 71.
