ARDMORE, Pa. – Chattanooga departing senior Steven Fox and UNCG newcomer Grayson Murray will tee off Thursday in the opening round of the U.S. Open at historic Merion Golf Club.
It is Fox’s second major start of the year and seventh overall on the PGA Tour. He has retained his amateur status and will through the British Open for certain. Along with the Masters, Fox has also played the Farmers Insurance Open (Torrey Pines), Arnold Palmer Invitational, Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Memorial Tournament and FedEx St. Jude Classic.
“He’s gotten his feet wet and gained valuable experience,” UTC coach Mark Guhne stated. “He knows what it takes at this point to compete on this stage. The great thing about Fox is he handles the external pressures so well that he almost seems oblivious to it.
“He’ll need to be good off the tee this week, and I think he is hitting it pretty well right now,” Guhne continued. “But above all else, his play around the greens will dictate if he is playing on the weekend. You don’t have to be an expert to know how important putting is at a USGA event, and that is no different this week.”
Fox certainly has reaped the benefits of his epic U.S. Amateur win. Winning at fabled Cherry Hills Country Club, he lived every golfer’s dream in April playing in the Masters. In July, he gets to play the British Open at Muirfield.
Fox is not alone as another former UTC golfer is in the field as a caddie. Gareth Lord is on the bag of Henrik Stenson. Lord played in nine events in the 1994 and 1995 seasons with one top 10.
It is a star-studded group that Fox finds himself in beginning Thursday at 1:36 p.m., and Friday at 8:06 a.m. He is paired with defending champion Webb Simpson and reigning British Open winner Ernie Els. You can follow the champions and the other 153 competitors at the scoring and tee times links above.
Murray makes his U.S. Open debut this week as just one of 10 amateur golfers to qualify for the event.
“Grayson will have a wonderful experience this week, and no matter what he shoots, he will be a better player after this experience,” UNCG coach Terrance Stewart said. “I hope he shocks the world and wins the whole tournament.”
Murray is slated to tee off Thursday afternoon in the last group of the day at 2:42 p.m. He is paired with professional golfers Brandon Brown and Jesse Smith. The group will tee off Friday in the second round at 9:12 a.m. with the cut coming after the first 36 holes of the event.
Murray qualified for the U.S. Open by firing a 9-under par 135 in the 36-hole qualifying event at the Hawks Ridge Golf Club Ball Ground, Ga. He opened his 36-hole day with a first-round score of 3-under par 69 as he posted four birdies and one bogey. He made his U.S. Open qualifying push in round two as he posted the second-lowest score on the course with a 6-under par 66. He finished his final 13 holes playing 9-under par to secure his spot in the U.S. Open.
Murray, who will sit out the 2013-14 season due to NCAA transfer rules, was ranked the No. 80 collegiate golfer this spring by Golfweek after playing at both Wake Forest in the fall and East Carolina in the spring. Prior to college, Murray was the No. 2 ranked junior player in the country in 2012. He won the 2010 and 2012 REX Hospital Open Junior Invitational, earning him a spot on the Nationwide Tour’s REX Hospital Open. In 2010, he shot a second round score of 66 to become the second-youngest competitor to make the cut in a Nationwide Tour Event.
Tournament television coverage Thursday and Friday includes ESPN airing the U.S. Open from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., NBC from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. and ESPN picking it back up from 5 p.m.-7 p.m.