Two-Time C-USA Champion Andy Sanders to Play at U.S. Open

The University of Houston has a tremendous tradition in college golf, where the school's former players are a virtual Who's-Who of the current PGA and Senior-PGA Tours.

Even as the prestigious U.S. Open gets under way this week at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in California, there will again be prominent Cougar alumni playing for one of golf's treasured major championships. That's Cougar alumni, and Cougar "alumni-to-be."

Though taking a summer break between the spring and fall semesters, two-time Conference USA individual champion Andy Sanders is still only a 21-year old junior at UH and not yet completed his collegiate eligibility. This Thursday the Economics major from Merritt Island, Florida, will tee off for a chance to win what is literally the Open Championship of the United States.

Never mind that 149 of the best professional golfers in the world,including Cougar greats like 1992 Master's Champion Fred Couples and 1995 PGA Tournament Champ Steve Elkington, (along with six other top amateurs) will be trying to do the same thing. It's pressure-packed but UH's young Economics major will have a shot to play with the pros. That's why it's called "Open."

Even the very best amateurs like Sanders though don't have nearly the amount of experience that professionals like Couples and Elkington have of playing in one of golf's four majors. Sanders, however, often plays like he's been here before and plans to be here again.

He stormed through a heavy field of professionals to win one of the Open's regional qualifiers last week. Note that Sanders didn't just nail-down one of just two coveted regional qualifying spots. He "won" the qualifier with a blistering 62 in the final round, defeating more experienced pros like Peter Jacobsen and David Ogrin in the process.

Shooting under par and even scoring in the 60's is nothing new for Sanders. Playing under the pressure of the final round of the NCAA Championships earlier in the month, he fired a six-under par 66 to help his UH team finish fourth in the nation.

Individually he finished the NCAA Championships in seventh place overall with a four-round total of 11-under par 277. That finish was a sizeable improvement from the No. 21 spot he had held in the national computer-ranking of college players heading into the NCAA tournament.

Earlier in the collegiate season he shot in the 60's for five consecutive rounds over two tournaments to post a pair of Top 5 finishes. He led the nation's No. 4 college team in scoring average (71.2 shots per round) and he won his second consecutive Conference USA individual title earlier in the spring.

Sanders officially tees off at 12:30 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Thursday and at 4:50 p.m. on Friday. The top 66 scores and players within 10 shots of the lead will advance to play the final two rounds Saturday and Sunday at storied Pebble Beach.