Pinehurst, N.C. – Clayton Rask and his entourage were among the last people on Pinehurst No. 2 on Friday night.
Marshals had issued a weather warning. He couldn't be sure he would finish the round. With two holes to go, he knew that one bogey might cause him to miss the cut in his first U.S. Open.
On the eighth hole — his 17th of the day, because he teed off on No. 10 — he watched his drive kick off the fairway and land behind a tuft of grass. His next shot rolled into a gully, coming to rest on a downslope near the green. It was from that location that John Daly once famously struck a shot that had rolled back to his feet, then swore off ever playing in a U.S. Open again.
"It was a 100-to-1 shot," said his caddie, Eric Chiles.
Rask, the Minnesota native and former Gopher, pulled out a 60-degree wedge and clipped a shot to a pin he couldn't see. Later, he would hear that his ball lipped out. He made a 5-footer to save par, then birdied the ninth hole, giving him a 71 in the second round of the U.S. Open, a 4-over-par total, and a weekend tee time in a rather exclusive club.
He'll tee off at 9:06 a.m. Twin Cities time Saturday. Rask has yet to make it onto the PGA Tour, but he will play the weekend in a tournament that prides itself on providing the toughest test in golf.
"It's kind of surreal," Rask said. "But it's a great feeling, and a little icing on the cake knowing that I've been working on this for so long. I see guys out here that I know, and I know I can play with them. This was my chance, and I wasn't going to let it slip away without a fight."
He finished both rounds with a birdie.