Kansas Jayhawks senior golfer Gunnar Broin places 3rd among amateurs at U.S. Open

University of Kansas senior golfer Gunnar Broin placed third of 16 amateurs and a tie for 70th overall at the 124th annual U.S. Open, which concluded Sunday at Pinehurst (North Carolina) Resort.

Broin, a native of Shorewood, Minnesota, shot a final round 2-over-par 72 on Sunday to go with previous rounds of 75, 68 and 81. He was one of 16 amateurs to qualify for the U.S. Open. Just three amateur golfers made the cut after 36 holes.

Neal Shipley was low amateur with a four-round total of 6-over-par 286. He had rounds of 70, 73, 71, 72. Amateur Luke Clanton, a junior at Florida State, finished at 8-over-par 288. He had rounds of 76, 69, 69, 74.

The overall winner was Bryson DeChambeau, who finished at 6-under-par 274. He outlasted runner-up Rory McIlroy, who finished at 5-under 275.

Shipley became the second player in the last 25 years to earn low amateur honors at the same year’s Masters and U.S. Open, joining Viktor Hovland in 2019. He played three years at James Madison and two at Ohio State.

According to pgatour.com, others to finish as low amateur at both the Masters and U.S. Open since 1990 include Phil Mickelson (1991) and Matt Kuchar (1998). The list includes golf greats Jack Nicklaus and Ken Venturi.

Shipley and Clanton were in the same group Sunday. It marked the second time in the last 40 years (Rickie Fowler and Derek Fathauer, 2008 at Torrey Pines) that two amateurs were paired on a U.S. Open Sunday.

According to PGAtour,com, “seven years later, Fowler and Fathauer met again in the final group on a Sunday, at the 2015 PLAYERS, where Fowler notched a dramatic victory. Perhaps a few years down the road, Shipley and Clanton will meet again on the game’s biggest stage as well.”

The highlight of Broin’s tourney was a 2-under-par 68 in the second round. It was the sixth best round of the day. Broin had three birdies in his final five holes of Round Two.

Broin accomplished much just making the field at the Open. In all there were 9,522 entries to go through two qualifying stages to play Pinehurst. He is eligible to play a super senior season at KU if he decides to return.

Former KU golfer Gary Woodland, the 2019 Open champion, did not make the cut. He had rounds of 72 and 78 for 10-over par. The cut was 5-over par. Ludvig Aberg led the tourney after two days with rounds of 66-69, good for 1-under-par 135.

Broin competed in all 13 events this past season for KU. He finished inside the top 20 twice, including one finish in the top 10 (Fighting Irish Classic, tie, seventh). He posted four rounds in the 60s with a 72.59 scoring average.

His low round of 67 came in the second round of the Ka’anapali Classic (Oct. 26-28). He shot under par in seven rounds and was top individual for Kansas in two events.

He qualified into the U.S. Open on June 3 through final qualifying in Columbus, Ohio. He needed a playoff to advance.