The 124th edition of the U.S. Open gets underway this week at Pinehurst Resort, with 28 Challenge Tour alumni set to tee it up.
Pinehurst will be playing host to the event for the fourth time, ten years after Martin Kaymer secured his second major championship at the course, with the German – who graduated from the Challenge Tour in 2006 – in the field once again this week. He will be joined by fellow graduates and U.S. Open winners Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick and Brooks Koepka, who is chasing a third U.S. Open title this week.
Several players are making their debuts in the event this week in North Carolina, including Brandon Robinson-Thompson, who will be the sole player on the 2024 Road to Mallorca teeing it up after the Englishman, who has six starts on the Challenge Tour this season, earned his spot through qualification at Walton Heath.
He was joined in qualifying at the Surrey course by eight Challenge Tour alumni, including 2023 graduates Matteo Manassero of Italy, Englishman Sam Bairstow and South African Casey Jarvis, as well as some from earlier years, including Italian Edoardo Molinari and Englishman Robert Rock, who came out of retirement for the qualifier and will be playing his first professional event for almost two years.
Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin, Scot Grant Forrest, and Dane Nicolai Højgaard will also make their U.S. Open debuts, with Højgaard qualifying following an impressive 2023 season which saw him climb inside the top 60 on the Official World Golf Rankings.
The 23-year-old will be one of several alumni at Pinehurst who finished in the top fifteen on the Race to Dubai last year, alongside New Zealander Ryan Fox, Pole Adrian Meronk, Frenchmen Victor Perez and Mathieu Pavon, and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.
Rounding out the alumni vying for a major title are South Africans Dean Burmester, Erik Van Rooyen and Christian Bezuidenhout, Englishmen Aaron Rai, Tyrrell Hatton and Richard Mansell, a pair of Swedes in Tim Widing and Alex Noren, Belgian Thomas Detry, and South Korean Ben An.
