It was an Olympic recovery. David Puig rowed on the second day of the US Open to turn the score of six strokes over par that he had signed on Thursday, on the first day in Pinehurst, into a final +4, discounting two shots in the second round. The result not only helped the 22-year-old from Barcelona to make the cut in the third major of the season, but above all it came with the jackpot of qualifying for the Paris Games. Puig will thus surpass Jorge Campillo in the world rankings, the man from Cáceres who also aspired to the Olympic event and who until now was one place above the Catalan in the ranking (116th out of 117th).
Campillo, however, did not manage to qualify for this US Open nor could he play any tournament on the European circuit this week, so he has not scored points and has been surpassed by Puig in a final of photo finish. This Monday the qualification period established by the International Federation for the men’s category closes, so the US Open was the last opportunity to earn merit. If Puig did not make the cut, Campillo would have repeated in the Games. The Catalan will be in Paris after a long fight. As a Saudi League player, his LIV tournaments do not count towards the rankings, and he has sought points under the rocks in secondary circuits such as the Asian Tour.
While in the women’s category Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Muñoz will be the Spanish representation for the third Games in a row (all since golf returned to the Olympic program), the men’s team will once again debut a pair: Rafa Cabrera Bello (fifth and Olympic diploma) and Sergio García (eighth and diploma) participated in Rio 2016, Adri Arnaus (38th) and Jorge Campillo (59th) went to Tokyo 2021 after the last minute withdrawal of Jon Rahm due to covid, and the Basque golfer, despite not enrolling in the US Open due to a foot infection, and David Puig will be in Paris 2024. Sergio García also had a distant option, but the Castellón native did not send the necessary documentation to the Spanish federation, according to Ten Golf, because he considered that his chances were very remote. García, also a Saudi League man, finished the second round of the US Open at even par, still within striking distance of the leader, Ludvig Aberg at -5. With -4 are DeChambeau, Detry and Cantlay. McIlroy is at -3. The shot of the day was given by Francesco Molinari with a hole in one on the 9th to overcome the cut.
Pinehurst assisted an unrecognizable Scottie Scheffler, who saved the cut by delivering a card of four over par in the round, +5 in total, after a day of torture in the greens for its continuous deviations in the putts. The world number one suffered bogeys on holes 15 and 17 and a double bogey on the par five of the 5th. The American did not celebrate a single birdie for the first time in his professional career in a big club. They did not make the cut Tiger Woods with +7 and Eugenio López Chacarra with +8.
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