Playoff to decide U.S. Open spot

After nearly an entire day of golf and 36 holes of competition at Stonewall Orchard Golf Club, a spot in the U.S. Open is still ... open.

Former University of Illinois golfer Patrick Nagle, Northwestern freshman Eric Chun and Western Illinois incoming senior Kyle Peterman will tee off at 8 a.m. today in a sudden-death playoff, with the champion earning a tee time in next week's U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in New York.

Each player carded a two-round total of 2-under-par 142 Monday in the sectional qualifier at Grayslake. The first twosome in the 21-player field teed off at 7:30 a.m. and after a pair of afternoon rain delays, the second of which lasted nearly two hours thanks to a huge storm that drenched the course, it wasn't until almost 9 p.m. that the final two players finished up.

Nagle, 24, had the low round of the day with a 5-under 67 on his first 18, before shooting 3 over in the afternoon.

"The wind got going and it played pretty tough out there for the middle stretch," said Nagle, who graduated from Illinois two years ago and played in the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. "I had my chances coming down. I just couldn't get anything to fall.

"I thought the golf course was manageable this morning. This afternoon it was a little more difficult. It got really wet. But it drained very well, considering how much rain we got for that two-hour span."

Chun, 19, had a great chance to win outright, but he splashed his approach on the par-5 18th into the pond to the left of the green.

He didn't, however, lament the shot - a 9-iron from the left rough, 150 yards out.

"I made a lot of putts - like a 40-footer - which I usually don't make every day," he said. "So everything kind of canceled each other out, and in the end, I still have a chance, and that's where I want to be."

Chun carded 72-70.

"I made a lot of mistakes, but that's golf," he said. "On a golf course like this, a slight miss and you'll get penalized. I hung in there and hit a lot of good shots, a lot of good putts, and stayed real patient."

Just like Chun, Peterman shot 72-70.

"I've really been practicing a lot and trying to prep for this," said Peterman, 21. "I came up and played the course (last week) and tried to get familiar with it and really tried to hone my game into this week. Hopefully it'll pay off (today)."

Peterman plans to have no regrets. He, Nagle and Chun will tee off on hole No. 1, then, if necessary, play No. 2. If there's still a tie, the remaining players will play the first hole again.

"I'm just going to go out and be confident," Peterman said. "It's not every day you get the chance to go to the U.S. Open. So I'm just going to go out and have fun with it."