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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 12:16 p.m., Friday, April 25, 2008

Golf: A slight drop in entries for the U.S. Open

By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer

The Hawai'i local U.S. Open qualifiers are:

May 9 — Turtle Bay Resort, Fazio Course

May 12 — Wailua Municipal Golf Course, Kaua'i

May 17 — Ka'anapali Golf Resort, Maui

May 19 — Waikoloa Resort, Kings Course, Big Island.

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Some of the names among the 8,390 entries for the U.S. Open might look familiar — Norman, O'Meara, Cook and Weiskopf.

In most cases, it's the sons of PGA Tour players.

The sons of four major champions and at least three other PGA Tour winners were among the 8,390 entries for the U.S. Open, the second-lowest amount this decade. The U.S. Open will be held June 12-15 at Torrey Pines, a municipal course in San Diego and home of the Buick Invitational.

The entries include the father-son tandems of Mark O'Meara and his son Shaun, and Olin Browne and Olin Jr. The sons first have to go through 18-hole local qualifying in early May, while the fathers are exempt into the final stage of 36-hole sectional qualifying.

Former U.S. Open champion Larry Nelson has two sons trying to get through local qualifying — Josh and Drew, both of whom have won the Father-Son Challenge with their dad.

Other sons include Gregory Norman (Greg), Jason Cook (John), Eric Weiskopf (Tom) and Jamie Sindelar (Joey).

John Cook now plays on the Champions Tour and said he was not interested in competing in the U.S. Open, especially on a South course at Torrey Pines that will measure 7,643 yards.

"The last regular tour event I played in was at Turning Stone, and I shot 3 under and missed the cut on a 7,500-yard course," Cook said Friday. "I was paired with two guys who played junior, high school and college golf with my son. They didn't know whether to call me Mr. Cook or John. That's when you know it's time."

Jason Cook went to Pepperdine and is now playing on the Canadian Tour.

The number of entries was the lowest since 7,820 entries in 2003 for the U.S. Open at Olympia Fields outside Chicago. As usual, there was a wide assortment of players.

The youngest is 12-year-old Rico Hoey of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The oldest was 79-year-old Harris Moore Jr. of Los Angeles. There were two women who paid the $150 entry fee, none named Michelle Wie. They were Isabelle Beisiegel and Carmen Bandea, both of whom have tried before. Beisiegel, who plays sparingly on the LPGA Tour, also has tried PGA Tour qualifying school.

Local qualifying also includes a few crossover athletes — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, former Grand Slam tennis champions Ivan Lendl and Michael Chang, retired NHL goalie Grant Fuhr, and former NFL quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver.

The entries did not include former U.S. Open champions Corey Pavin (1995) and Steve Jones (1996). Others who did not enter included 17-year-old Tadd Fujikawa of Hawai'i. His agent said qualifying conflicted with tournaments he is playing in Japan.

Defending champion Angel Cabrera was among 58 players exempt from qualifying, a list that will expand next month when the U.S. Open takes players from the top 50 in the world ranking and top 10 on the PGA Tour money list.