How anxious was Erick Justesen for Thursday’s Frys.com Open
Pre-Qualifier?
HOLLISTER
How anxious was Erick Justesen for Thursday’s Frys.com Open Pre-Qualifier?
The Live Oak High graduate drove about 1,800 miles straight from his previous stop in Miami, Okla., to windy San Juan Oaks Golf Club in Hollister so he could practice right away.
“I didn’t have time to fool around,” he said. “I wanted to get to work.”
Justesen, 26, was shaky at times Thursday but had just enough to earn an extended visit near his old stomping ground. He tied for 18th at 2-over-par 74 and made the cut by one stroke for Monday’s final qualifier at Bayonet Course in Carmel.
The top four finishers there will play in the Frys.com Open, starting Thursday at CordeValle.
Justesen, who advanced to the PGA Tour event last year with a sponsor exemption, needs to improve his short game for Monday. He was 2-under after 11 holes Thursday only to bogey five of his final six.
“I kept giving myself good looks at the hole but could not make a putt,” Justesen said. “It was tough to control the ball with the wind. I just kept grinding.”
Hollister’s Mark Mallin was also able to squeeze pas the cut, shooting a 74, or 2-over par. Mallin hit four bogeys during the day but was able to balance his score with two birdies.
Mallin struggled in the front nine, firing three bogeys. In the back nine he hit for even par.
Mallin was tied for 18th place.
– Kevin Mom, a 2008 Live Oak grad, missed the cut at 8-over despite an eagle on the par-5 11th and birdies on the second and ninth.
Mom was 3-under through 12 holes but began to unravel on the par-4 13th, where he carded the first of three straight double bogeys. Mom followed that with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 16-17 and a double bogey on the 18th.
– Morgan Hill’s Brian Thibault suffered a late collapse as well, this one on the front nine. He was 1-under at the turn, with birdies on No. 11 and No. 17, and 2-under after a birdie on No. 1. He plummeted to 8-over though in his final eight holes.
– John Ellis, another LOHS alumnus from 1998, received an exemption through Thursday and will play in Monday’s qualifier.
The San Benito Score:
