Notebook: Patrick Rodgers looks to join Spieth and Thomas on PGA Tour

 

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) – Patrick Rodgers had more margin for error than he realized at the time, but his finish was no less impressive. Leaking oil on the back nine at the Memorial, and needing only nine FedExCup points for special temporary membership on the PGA Tour, he birdied the last two holes to make it easily.

 

Rodgers, from the same high school class that produced Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas (he and Thomas are roommates in Florida), was already set for his PGA Tour card next year. He still is No. 6 on the Web.com Tour money list, and the top 25 are assured cards. But anything can happen in Q-School, as Kevin Tway found out a few years ago when he plunged down the priority list.

 

Getting his temporary membership at Memorial was big.

 

Not only does Rodgers get unlimited exemptions – he is in the FedEx St. Jude Classic this week and the Travelers Championship the week after the U.S. Open – he can secure a card by finishing the equivalent of 125th or higher in either the FedExCup or the money list. That would give him priority over the Web.com Tour graduates, and he could bank on full status for the entire 2015-16 season.

 

U.S. OPEN TIDBITS: Maybe this U.S. Open could be called amateur hour.

 

After the final stage of qualifying on Monday, 17 amateurs are part of the field at Chambers Bay. Three were previously exempt through amateur criteria, and 14 made it through qualifying. The USGA said it was the highest number of amateurs since 1981.

 

Meanwhile, nine players made it to the U.S. Open by qualifying for the second straight year – four from the qualifier in England, four from the United States and Liang Wenchong in the Asia qualifier.

 

There's still a chance for players in the FedEx St. Jude Classic to move (or stay) in the top 60 in the world and get to Chambers Bay. Andy Sullivan of England is No. 56 and Kevin Kisner is at No. 57. Neither is playing this week. Kisner tweaked his back on his first shot he took on the range Thursday at the Memorial, though he said it felt better by Sunday. He withdrew from the qualifier and said if he falls out of the top 60, he probably could use a week off, anyway.

 

Steven Bowditch (No. 64) and Harris English (No. 68) also are playing the St. Jude Classic.

 

JACK & JOHNNY: Johnny Miller has been selected to be honored next year at the Memorial. Tournament host Jack Nicklaus also said that two-time Masters champion Horton Smith and two-time PGA Champion Leo Diegel would be honored posthumously.

 

Miller, known in this generation for his blunt talk in the NBC Sports tower, is a two-time major champion and a fierce rival to Nicklaus in the 1970s. They spend more time fishing these days than playing golf.

 

"Johnny was very thrilled," Nicklaus said. "He says, 'You've got to be kidding.' I said, 'If you hadn't caught that fish when we were together, we probably wouldn't have done it.' In case you don't understand that, I take Johnny fishing occasionally."

 

Miller, 68, attributed it to age.

 

"They've run out of the good players," he said with a laugh. "Now they're down to Johnny Miller."

 

MILLER TIME: Johnny Miller will be at the U.S. Open for a 21st consecutive year. You just won't hear him, and probably won't see him.

 

Miller said he would be at Chambers Bay on Saturday and Sunday as part of a corporate function with Lexus.

 

"It's going to be weird being there and not working, I can tell you that," Miller said Monday from Omaha, Nebraska, where he was doing a Lexus outing to raise money for a Catholic high school. "It is what it is. I can say for me to cover a U.S. Open at Chambers Bay would have been a little different, anyway."

 

During the 20 years that NBC Sports televised the U.S. Open, Miller had played majors at most of the venues (he didn't play Bethpage Black or Congressional, to name a few exceptions). Chambers Bay only opened eight years ago.

 

"Maybe it will be a good championship," Miller said.

 

DIVOTS: Morgan Pressel and Suzann Pettersen round out the 20-player field for the CVS Charity Classic on June 29-30. The event hosted by Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade has raised more than $18 million for New England charities. ... Ridgewood Country Club, part of the rotation that hosts The Barclays during the FedExCup playoffs, will host the U.S. Girls Junior in 2016. ... Sunday was a big week for Idaho. Boise natives Tyler Aldridge won on the Web.com Tour and Madeleine Sheils on the Symetra Tour.

 

STAT OF THE WEEK: Only twice in the past 10 years has a player won a PGA Tour event without making a birdie in the final round. Both happened at the St. Jude Classic (Justin Leonard in 2005, Ben Crane in 2014).

 

FINAL WORD: "I look at it this way. It's about getting reps. I got a lot of reps this weekend." – Tiger Woods, on his 85-74 weekend at the Memorial to finish in last place for the first time in his career.

 

Copyright (2015) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This article was written by Doug Ferguson from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.