The call confirming his presence in the 115th US Open came late last Sunday evening. By Tuesday lunchtime Jimmy Gunn was on the practice ground at Chambers Bay hitting balls, right next to a young lad by the name of Rory McIlroy. For the 34‑year‑old Scot from the Highlands it was something of a step into dreamland, a million golfing miles from the third‑division eGolf Gateway Tour on which he makes his living.
Last year Gunn competed at a higher level, on the second-division Web.com circuit, one step down from the PGA Tour. But at the end of a disappointing season he languished in 112th place on the money-list, 12 places short of retaining his playing privileges for 2015. In the seven years since he moved from his Dornoch home – he worked as a carpenter for his father in the winters and as a caddie at Royal Dornoch in the summers in between competing in amateur events – that remains the peak of his achievements. He does not even have a world ranking.
Still, for all his struggles, in this US Open – the most democratic of golf’s four major championships – Gunn has done more than most to earn his spot in the elite 156-man field gathered on the shores of Puget Sound just north of Seattle. The transplanted Scot’s first stop was local qualifying at the Southern Dunes club in Maricopa, Arizona, nor far from the new home he has just bought in Phoenix with his fiancee, Jessica.
Gunn shot a two-under-par 70 over the Fred Couples-designed course, good enough to get him into a three-man play-off for the last remaining spot. On the first extra hole he holed from 30 feet to stay alive, then won through on the next. Next stop was Memphis for the final qualifying. This time the Gateway Tour’s leading money winner – $51,165 from 12 events – shot three-under par to finish 11th, one shot and one place from automatic qualification for Chambers Bay.
No matter, in a four-hole play-off with the former Ryder Cup player JJ Henry, Gunn claimed the second alternate spot that would eventually prove good enough. He has played 60 holes in this year’s US Open even before he tees up in the final threesome on Thursday at 3.12pm local time (11.12pm in the UK) alongside Jared Becher and Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s grandson.
“In Memphis I played as well as I have all year, especially in the first round,” says Gunn. “I shot a couple under par and hit 17 of 18 greens. Even after missing out on automatic qualification I knew I had a good chance of getting in because the USGA hold back six spots for guys who move into the world top 60 in the week prior to the US Open.”
Looking ahead, Gunn is no more familiar with the amped-up links that is Chambers Bay than any other competitor but growing up on one of the world’s premier seaside courses is unlikely to harm his chances of performing well. “I think where I grew up will help me on this course, even if the weather is a little bit different,” he says with a smile. “I’ve never played Dornoch this firm and fast but the fescue grass on the greens and fairways is familiar. The putting surfaces here are a lot more undulating, but Dornoch’s greens have the same sort of roll-off areas. So there are similarities. You can putt from 150 yards off the green here if you want to.
“So many guys will be complaining about Chambers Bay but I won’t be one of them. I love the course. I love that good shots will sometimes be punished and bad shots rewarded. That’s the way golf is supposed to be.”
As for how well he will play, Gunn is noncommittal, although he is already attempting to take advantage of his high-profile participation in golf’s second-biggest event. Through his agent, he has requested a sponsor’s invitation to the Scottish Hydro Challenge at Spey Valley, a European Challenge Tour event not too many miles from his boyhood home.
“I don’t have any real thoughts on how I might do this week,” he says. “I would love to be still playing on Sunday afternoon. But right now I’m trying to focus on the first tee shot. You can’t get ahead of yourself on this course. If you aren’t focused 100% it will bite you real fast. You can make double or triple bogey in a heartbeat. So it’s one shot at a time for me.”
