The final U.S. Open qualifier, known to many as “golf’s longest day,” is a 36-hole marathon to decide the final spots in the U.S. Open.
After weeks of qualifying, including over 10,000 0.4 handicap-or-better golfers, it came down to the final day on Monday to decide the final spots. And the 2026 edition gave us storylines like no other.
Let's start with a few misses.
First, Max Homa unfortunately missed a qualifying spot. He missed a short putt during an eight-man playoff for three spots, just missing the cut to make the tournament.
Adam Svensson also missed the tournament, but in an unbelievable way. He came up short in a playoff, similar to Homa, but he picked up his ball marker on the green once the last spot’s putt dropped. Little did he know that the rest of the playoff was supposed to play it out to decide alternates.
Svensson dropped a spot in the alternate list due to forfeiting the hole by picking up his ball marker.
On a lighter note, we may not see Tiger Woods in the U.S. Open, but we may see his son, Charlie, who caddied for his teammate Miles Russell during the 36-hole marathon. Russell qualified for a spot and is reportedly going to see whether Woods is available to caddie for him in the next week.
Tons of other PGA Tour players, such as Emiliano Grillo and Keith Mitchell, also punched their ticket to Shinnecock Hills in Long Island, N.Y.
To hear more about who is in and who is out for the U.S. Open, tune in to this week’s episode of the Dan Evans Show.
