2026 US Open Qualifiers Decided After Conclusion Of Golf’s Longest Day

Every year, golfers across the world aim to realize a dream: play in the U.S. Open, golf’s most democratic major tournament. Those golfers must first survive U.S. Open Qualifiers, the entry pathway for players who are not already exempt into the U.S. Open. Known colloquially as golf’s longest day, players must compete over a final two-round 36-hole test in one day.

Conducted across ten different sites, only a handful of spots are up for grabs at each location. Here’s how golf’s longest day in 2026 shook out.

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The Road to Shinnecock Hills

715 total players competed across the ten final qualifying sites for 43 total spots in the 2026 U.S. Open, scheduled to be held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, NY June 18-21, 2026. Amateurs to Korn Ferry Tour players all the way to prior PGA Tour winners were all competing for the same 43 spots, making this mix of competitors extremely unique.

Highlights

A total of 12 amateurs earned spots into the 2026 U.S. Open, while ten current Korn Ferry Tour players also made it through. The remaining 21 spots were grabbed by PGA Tour pros.

One of the most notable qualifiers was Miles Russell, the 17-year old phenom from Jacksonville Beach, Florida. For Russell, the youngest player to make a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour, this will be his first U.S. Open appearance. Russell notably employed the services of Charlie Woods, son of Tiger Woods, as his caddie for the qualifier at BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. When asked whether Charlie Woods would also caddie for him at the U.S. Open, Russell said "We’ll see what he’s doing. To be determined." Charlie Woods himself missed out on qualifying for the U.S. Open Qualifiers.

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Jackson Suber, the 26 year old from Tampa, Florida cruised towards medalist honors at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland with a three shot margin of victory over Ben Kohles, who also qualified. 2026 will be Suber’s second appearance at a major championship, having made the cut and finished 73rd at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2024.

Billy Horschel qualified in Springfield, Ohio and will be making his 13th career U.S. Open start in an otherwise poor 2026 season. Horschel found success in the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion GC, where he finished T4. Besides 2013, Horschel’s highest finish was a T23 in 2014 at Pinehurst No. 2, and he will be looking to improve on that in 2026.

Notable Misses

Tony Finau failed to qualify for the 2026 U.S. Open. Finau played for a spot at Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ohio. However, he was unable to qualify, finishing at five-under par and one back of alternates Brandt Snedeker and Maxwell Moldovan. This will be the first time Finau has missed the U.S. Open since 2017.

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Blades Brown, the 19-year old from Nashville, Tennessee, finished at four-under par at Woodmont Country Club, but came up short and becoming the second alternate. Brown recently received conditional status on the PGA Tour.

Max Homa also failed to qualify at Lambton Golf and Country Club in Canada. Homa finished at six-under par but was not able to secure a qualifying or alternate spot.

Full Results

The full results are as follows.

Century Country Club & Golf Club of Purchase (Purchase, NY)

Qualifiers: Kevin Roy, Max Greyserman, Benjamin James, James Nicholas

Alternates: Matt Jones, Andrew Svoboda

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Gaston Country Club (Gaston, NC)

Qualifiers: Carl Yuan, Jackson Ormond (a), Brandon Wu, Cole Hammer, Jackson Van Paris

Alternates: Harry Higgs, Cristobal Del Solar

Springfield Country Club (Springfield, OH)

Qualifiers: Neal Shipley, Zac Blair, Billy Horschel, Dylan Wu, Nick Hardy

Alternates: Brandt Snedeker, Maxwell Moldovan

Lakes Golf & Country Club (Westerville, OH)

Qualifiers: Davis Thompson, Arni Sveinsson (a), J.B. Holmes

Alternates: Sam Udovich (a), Braxton Kuntz

Lambton Golf and Country Club (Canada)

Qualifiers: Emiliano Grillo, Alejandro Tosti, Marcelo Rozo, John Parry, Max McGreevy, William Mouw

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Alternates: Matt Wallace, Adam Svensson

Woodmont Country Club (Rockville, MD)

Qualifiers: Jackson Suber, Ben Kohles, Logan Reilly (a), Jake Sollon

Alternates: Bryan Lee (a), Blades Brown

BallonIsles Country Club (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)

Qualifiers: Ben Silverman, Giuseppe Puebla (a), Miles Russell (a), Ryder Cowan (a)

Alternates: Tyler Collet, Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Hawks Ridge Golf Club (Ball Ground, GA)

Qualifiers: Chris Kirk, Jake Peacock, Keith Mitchell, Chase Kyes (a), Robbie Higgins

Alternates: Jack Schoenberger (a), Alexander Herrmann

Emerald Valley Golf Club (Creswell, OR)

Qualifiers: Greyson Leach, Andrew Putnam

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Alternates: Spencer Tibbits, TingWei Chang (a)

Del Paso Country Club (Sacramento, CA)

Qualifiers: Taylor Montgomery, Eric Lee (a), Matthew Robles (a), Marek Fleming (a)

Alternates: Kihei Akina (a), Gabriel Salvanera

This article was originally published on Forbes.com