When Citadel football assistant coach Everette Sands signed up to play in the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am, he probably wasn’t expecting to be interviewed by the Golf Channel.
We can guarantee that he wasn’t expecting to be mistaken for Texas Longhorns legend and former NFL quarterback Vince Young, either.
In a viral interview on Golf Channel, Sands was mistaken for Young. After being told he “played for six seasons in the NFL” and was “arguably one of the best NCAA quarterbacks of all-time at Texas,” Sands was asked how he took what he learned as a football player and applied it to golf.
Sands had a huge smile on his face, but handled the interview with grace.
“Now, I apologize, you have the wrong person. I’m Everette Sands from over at the Citadel. I’m a football coach! But the great thing about golf is not only am I competing against myself, but I’m competing against everyone else.”
I’m dying laughing they thought they were talking to Vince Young, might be the most awkward interview I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/cjz0gYqg9D
The 2024 U.S. Open begins on Thursday, June 13 and runs through Sunday, June 16 at Pinehurst Course No. 2 in North Carolina.
With the tournament around the corner, fans can still snag tickets to attend the third golf major of the year to see the top golfers in the world.
There's a variety of tickets fans can purchase to enjoy the event at Pinehurst, ranging from just a single day ticket to multi-day passes to V.I.P. club packages. It all depends what the fan wants to see and do while attending the tournament.
Here's more information about specific ticket prices to attend the 2024 U.S. Open.
How Much Does It Cost for a Single Day Pass to the 2024 U.S. Open?
Fans can go just one of the four days to the U.S. Open. If fans want to have the ability to walk the course alongside their favorite golfers for a cheaper price, the gallery tickets are the way to go. The cheapest gallery tickets are selling on the official U.S. Open site for $175 plus fees for Thursday's round, while Saturday's third round is the most expensive ticket for $235 plus fees. Both Friday and Sunday are selling for $225 plus fees.
Resale websites, such as StubHub, are selling tickets at a cheaper rate. For instance, a gallery ticket for Thursday is selling for $117 plus fees, while Saturday's round is set at $175 plus fees.
How Much Does It Cost for a Grandstand Ticket on the 11th Green?
The U.S. Open is selling specific tickets for fans to be able to sit in the grandstand bleachers on the 11th green throughout the tournament. On the official tournament website, Thursday's grandstand tickets are selling for $325 plus fees, while Sunday's final round is selling for $350 plus fees. Both Friday and Saturday are sold out on the website.
Fans will still have access to the entire Pinehurst Course No. 2 with these tickets, they will just have the opportunity to sit on the 11th green. Seating is determined on a first-come, first-serve basis.
How Much Does It Cost for a Daily Garden Ticket?
The U.S. Open also has a special Daily Garden package for this year's tournament. These tickets include access to a reserved area that mimics an outdoor bar. Food and beverage packages can be added on to this ticket.
The Daily Garden tickets for Thursday are selling for $260 plus fees, Friday is sold out, Saturday is selling for $325 plus fees and Sunday is selling for $300 plus fees.
How Much Does It Cost to Sit in the Carolina Club at the 2024 U.S. Open?
The hottest tickets for purchase, and the most expensive, are for the Carolina Club at Pinehurst Course No. 2. These tickets include an air-conditioned facility on the 16th tee box, all-inclusive food and beverage and access to the gallery and Daily Garden.
On the official tournament website, only tickets for Sunday's final round are still available for the Carolina Club, selling at $850 plus fees.
Last week: Jake Knapp won the Mexico Open at Vidanta.
Notes: The tournament again leads off the Florida swing under a new name. Cognizant takes over as title sponsor of what previously was the Honda Classic. ... Rory McIlroy is playing to beef up his pre-Masters schedule. He last played the tournament in 2018. ... Six of the seven winners on the PGA Tour this year were outside the top 50 in the world ranking. The exception was Wyndham Clark, No. 10 when he won at Pebble Beach. ... This is the last tournament for the leading top 10 in the FedEx Cup and the leading five players in “swing category” to earn a spot in Bay Hill next week. ... Since turning pro after winning The American Express, U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap finished in last place at Pebble Beach and missed the cut at Riviera. He is in the field this week. ... NCAA champion Fred Biondi, who turned pro last year, received a sponsor exemption. ... The field features five of the top 25 in the world ranking.
Last week: Patty Tavatanakit won the Honda LPGA Thailand.
Notes: This is the second of three straight weeks in Asia. The HSBC Women’s World Championship dates to 2008 and typically gets a strong field. ... Jin Young Ko is going for her third straight title in Singapore. ... Lorena Ochoa set the course record of 268 in 2008, the inaugural year of the tournament. ... The field features eight of the top 10 in the women’s world ranking, missing only Nelly Korda and Charley Hull. ... Atthaya Thitikul, No. 11 in the world, has an injured left thumb and does not plan to return until the end of March. ... Former U.S. Women’s Open champion In Gee Chun is playing on a sponsor’s invitation. ... Minjee Lee is in the field, playing for the first time this year on the LPGA Tour. ... Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis has named Paula Creamer, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lincicome and Morgan Pressel as assistants for this year’s matches in Virginia.
Last tournament: Dustin Johnson won LIV Golf Las Vegas.
Notes: Brooks Koepka is going for his third straight LIV victory in Saudi Arabia. The tournament was played in the fall the last two seasons. ... Anthony Kim is expected to make his LIV debut as an individual. Kim has not competed anywhere since May 2012 at the Wells Fargo Championship. He is now 38. ... Dustin Johnson’s victory in Las Vegas makes him the first player to win in each of the three seasons of LIV Golf. Among those with a chance to match him this week are Koepka and Cameron Smith. ... Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Harold Varner III and Abraham Ancer have all won in Saudi Arabia outside the LIV Golf League. ... Jon Rahm’s new team is leading the standings after two events. ... Joaquin Niemann was the only LIV Golf player who received a special invitation to the Masters based on his European tour performances in the offseason. ... Patrick Reed is no longer among the top 100 in the world.
Last week: Darius van Driel won the Magical Kenya Open.
Notes: The tournament is co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour of South Africa. ... This is the second of three straight tournaments on the African continent. ... The field features only four players from the top 100 in the world. The highest-ranked player is Rikuya Hoshino, who is at No. 81. ... South Africa only has five players in the top 100 in the world. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who plays the PGA Tour, is the top-ranked South African at No. 59. ... Only two players from Nos. 126-200 in the FedEx Cup last year are in the field, Matthias Schwab and Jonas Blixt. Dylan Frittelli was in that category until winning earlier this year to get full European tour membership. ... Keita Nakajima, a former world No. 1 amateur, is in the field. He is eligible from winning the Japan Golf Tour money title last year. ... The tournament only became part of the European tour schedule last year.
Asian Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia: New Zealand Open, Millbrook GC (Coronet and Remarkables), Arrowtown, New Zealand. Defending champion: Brendan Jones. Online: https://asiantour.com/ and https://pga.org.au/.
USGA CEO Mike Whan wants any golfer who's good enough to qualify to compete in the U.S. Open.
Yes, that includes everyone from LIV Golf.
Per U.S. Open tradition, players not exempt into the field must earn their spot through qualifying events. Anyone with a USGA Handicap Index of 0.4 or less can enter a local qualifier, advance to a 36-hole regional event and earn a spot. (Many top pros not already in the U.S. Open field are exempt from local qualifying and only need to advance via a 36-hole event.) Since 2004, the U.S. Open field has averaged 74.2 players who have advanced through one or both stages of qualifying.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated at Lancaster Country Club, host of the this year's U.S. Women’s Open from May 30–June 2, Whan said he’s proud of the USGA’s uninhibited embrace of LIV Tour players competing in the U.S. Open and continues to welcome them "with open arms."
“One of the advantages we have versus most other championships in golf is, a lot of other championships call themselves open but we are the most open, meaning half of the spots in the U.S. Open are not held and are going to be filled by qualifying players,” Whan said.
“There is a good chunk of LIV players and other major winners who are already in and have played since LIV started playing and we're proud of that. But there are a lot of great players on the DP World Tour, the PGA Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour, and the Asian Tours that aren't in either and they have to go play 36 holes and try to qualify.”
LIV players Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Martin Kaymer, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk are exempt and expected to play in the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort on June 13-16.
Former major champions and current LIV players Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Henrik Stenson and Graeme McDowell are among 35 players from LIV who will attempt to earn a spot in the field through final qualifying.
“We saw it last year, we had a pretty consequential amount of LIV players go to qualify,” Whan said. “We had players who went to qualify and got in and some went to qualify and didn't. The same will be true this year.”
One LIV player who isn’t attempting to qualify is Talor Gooch. He made waves ahead of the Masters by saying if Rory McIlroy were to have won the tournament to complete his career grand slam, “there’s just going to be an asterisk.” Gooch's reasoning was he and other LIV players weren’t in the field.
Gooch could have competed for a spot in the U.S. Open through qualifying. The USGA confirmed he did not enter and Gooch confirmed Thursday he will not attempt to qualify.
“When people talk about other majors, some of those majors are kind of full and the only way to get in is an invite,” Whan said. “In our case, half of our field is not only not full, it's wide open. If you're good enough to get in, we welcome you with open arms.”
