Six local golfers earn spots in U.S. Open

Victoria Sun

Thursday, June 8, 2000 | 10:33 a.m.

When Bob May was a teenager growing up in La Habra, Calif., he played many times on the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links during California amateur championships.

Now the Las Vegas resident is all grown up. When he makes his return there next week, there will be much more at stake.

May, former UNLV standouts Warren Schutte, Edward Fryatt and Chad Campbell, Bishop Gorman High School graduate Tommy Armour III and Las Vegan Robert Gamez all will be competing in the 100th U.S. Open June 15-18 at Pebble Beach.

"The special thing is it being at Pebble Beach," May said of playing in his first U.S. Open. "The golf course has so much history.

"To go there and be able to play a major, I think it's a neat thing."

Even better for May was that he, unlike the others, didn't have to qualify for the 156-player field via qualifying tournaments. May was given an exemption because he finished in the top 15 of the 1999 European PGA Tour money list.

"I'm sure that's everyone's dream not to have to qualify for the majors," May said. "It's not an easy process of going through the qualifying.

"It's nice, you already know you're in so you can focus on it without worrying about it."

Gamez had little to worry about after firing a 7-under-par 65 in the first round of the one-day, 36-hole sectional qualifier at the Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md. Monday. He followed with a solid 68 which gave him the fourth qualifying spot.

Fryatt and Armour both qualified at the Woodmont Country Club. Armour shot 65 and 69 for a 10-under-par 134 total while Fryatt squeaked in by surviving a 13-man playoff for 12 spots.

"The first round, the two courses are different and I started off on what is thought to be the harder one," he said. "I birdied the first hole for a good start and had a good putt on the last hole to save par.

"But then you see all the good scores, you know you still couldn't rest on the four under. I knew I had to keep making birdies.

"On the second course, I had a couple of birdies early and was two under at the turn. I felt if I could shoot under par the rest of the way I'd be OK. I bogeyed 13, birdied 16 and parred 17 and 18. Fortunately that was good enough to get to a playoff."

Fryatt is 66th on the money list with $369,660. His best finishes this season have been a tie for third at the MCI Classic, a tie for seventh at the Phoenix Open and a tie for ninth at the Doral-Ryder Open.

He will be competing in his third U.S. Open.

"It's going to be some challenge," Fryatt said.

Campbell, a 1996 UNLV graduate now playing on the Hooters Tour, qualified Tuesday with scores of 73 and 71 at Settindown Creek in Atlanta.

Inclement weather forced Schutte to finish his final seven holes at the Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., Wednesday morning.

"It was 50 degrees, the wind was blowing 25 miles per hour," Schutte said. "It poured from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. when they finally decided to call it.

"To tell the truth, I was happy when they called play. I knew the weather couldn't get any worse the next day. I did all the hard work in the bad weather."

Schutte, who finished with six birdies, six bogeys and a double-bogey in two days, shot 72 and 74.

"I'm very, very excited," the 1991 NCAA individual champion said. "I'm very relieved.

"I've had a hard road the last couple of years. Hopefully, this is something I can build on."

Schutte made his only other U.S. Open appearance in 1992, but didn't make the cut with scores of 75 and 76.

"I have some experiences to look back on," Schutte said. "It's definitely going to help me out.

"I'm going to work on my short game because the way they make the open courses these days, you need a lot of 8 to 10-foot putts for par."