'You want to beat them': Chase Johnson hoping to leave his mark in 1st major appearance

Chase Johnson is competing in his first major tournament this week, but that doesn’t mean he lacks confidence heading into Thursday’s opening round at the 125th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.

The Akron native was the final qualifier added to the field Monday, after Bud Cauley became fully exempt, via a top-60 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. Now he hopes to take full advantage of the opportunity.

“I mean, you want to beat them,” he said. “It boils down to that. Yeah, they’re role models for a lot of players, but at the end of the day, you want to compete against the best players in the world and you want to beat them.”

One of those players who serves as a role model for Johnson is someone he played with when he was a junior golfer, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

“I’ve been playing against Scottie since we were juniors.” Johnson said. “Obviously he’s figured something out a lot quicker than I did. But eventually I’ll get to the point that I want to be at.”

Johnson has prepared for his U.S. Open debut the past three days during practice rounds at Oakmont, arguably one of the toughest tests in all of golf. He’s pleased to be in the field but had to play the waiting game before his name was called.

“Yeah, everyone was saying that I had a really good chance, but obviously moved inside the top 60,” he said. “But that’s kind of a chicken that you’re not going to count until it’s hatched out here.”

A Kent State graduate, Johnson had to battle at the Columbus qualifier earlier in the month, going up against the likes of Rickie Fowler, Max Homa and Eric Cole, all former PGA Tour winners. Johnson shot 5-under-par and was involved in a 5-for-1 playoff with all three, along with fellow pro Cameron Young, who earned the final spot when he birdied the first playoff hole. Cole also earned a spot in the field as the second alternate.

“My family is coming in tonight, mom, dad, fiancee, soon-to-be father-in-law. Everyone is going to be here tonight. Very excited to share this with all of them,” Johnson said.

Johnson was playing alongside Matt Fitzpatrick, Matheiu Pavon and Justin Rose for an early morning Monday practice round.

“You can always learn something from other players, and you kind of just take that with a grain of salt, and then at the end of the day you’re trying to post a lower score than the next guy,” Johnson said.

With Rose having a runner-up finish at The Masters a few months ago, Johnson is certainly learning from some of the best in the game.

“I didn’t really ask too many questions, just really observed,” Johnson said. “I was just watching how (Rose) navigated the course and tried to pick up what I could from afar.”