Former Tech golfer David Duval finished second at the U.S. Open held at Black Course of Bethpage State Park in Long Island on June 18-22, 2009. It was his highest finish in a major championship since 2001. In that year, he won the Open Championship, finished second at the Masters and tied for No. 10 at the PGA Championship.
Duval started the final day of play tied for third and five strokes back but was able to shoot a low 71 to move up to second place. While Duval triple-bogeyed at the third hole on the last day, he had birdies at holes 14-16 to finish with a final score of 278. He was two strokes back at 2-under-par. The score tied him with Phil Mickelson and Ricky Barnes.
Duval qualified to the U.S. Open through Brookside Golf and Country Club and The Lakes Golf and Country Club tournament in Columbus, Ohio, shooting a 66 and 69 in the 36-hole qualifier. The score was 9-under-par. He was one of the 17 players with scores low enough to be invited to the U.S. Open.
This was his second Majors tournament in the last 10 Major tournaments and his sixth Major money finish since 2002.
Stewart Cink finished tied for No. 27 at the U.S. open. He shot a 286 and finished 6-over-par, tied with five other golfers including former No. 1 golfer Vijay Singh. He was auto-qualified to this year’s U.S. Open after finishing in the top-15 of the field at last year’s U.S. Open.
Cameron Tringale, a 2009 graduate, and Matt Kuchar, a 2000 graduate, also qualified to the U.S. Open. Neither made it past the halfway cut at the tournament, which was set at 4-over-par after a delayed Day 2.
Kuchar shot a 71 to finish the first round seven strokes behind the leader. He shot a 77 in the second round. Tringale shot a 70 in the first round, but shot a 77 in the second round.
Tringale finished tied for third place at the United States Open Golf Championship at a sectional qualifier in Ball Ground, Ga. He shot a 66 and a 68 through the 36 holes, good enough to finish 10-under-par.
Kuchar finished tied for first at his qualifier at Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, Ga. He shot a 66 and a 68 to finish 10-under-par.