By Taylor Caradonna
PINEHURST, North Carolina – PGA TOUR Americas members Joey Vrzich and Frederik Kjettrup are set to compete in the 2024 U.S. Open (June 13-16) at Pinehurst No. 2 after securing spots at their Final Qualifying sites in Bend, Oregon and Alpharetta, Georgia, respectively. This will be each player’s first appearance in a major championship.
Vrzich is set to make his second start on TOUR, as the 25-year-old made his PGA TOUR debut at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open on a sponsor exemption. Since then, Vrzich earned exempt membership into the inaugural PGA TOUR Americas season and recently ended the Tour’s Latin America Swing as 21st in the Fortinet Cup. His season, thus far, has been highlighted by five made cuts and three top-25s, with his best finish being tied for third at the Totalplay Championship at Atlas Country Club.
Vrzich turned professional in 2022 after spending most of his collegiate career at Pepperdine University, where he recorded 11 top-10 finishes and ranked third in all-time scoring average. The California native played collegiately for two seasons at the University of Nevada-Reno before transferring to Pepperdine after his sophomore season. Following graduation, Vrzich earned membership to PGA TOUR Canada via Q-School and spent two seasons on the tour before it was merged into PGA TOUR Americas.
Recent Florida State alum Kjettrup, who finished No. 8 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking, qualified for the U.S. Open with back-to-back 66s on Monday. A 12-under par total was enough for Kjettrup to secure one of three qualifying spots at the Golf Club of Georgia. The Denmark native earned exempt PGA TOUR Americas membership and conditional Korn Ferry Tour status as a result of finishing Nos. 6-10 in PGA TOUR University.
The 24-year-old finished inside the top 10 five times his senior year and was a three-time champion in his four collegiate seasons at Florida State (2022 All-American Intercollegiate, 2023 Watersound Invitational, 2024 ACC Championship). He has made two appearances on the DP World Tour, with his debut at the 2023 Made in HimmerLand being his best showing. He finished tied for 24th and was the only amateur to make the cut. Kjettrup’s second appearance was a sponsor exemption into the 2024 Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
Final Qualifying also produced a list of alternates, which includes four PGA TOUR Americas members: Blake Tomlinson, Maxwell Moldovan, Thomas Ponder and Ollie Osborne. Tomlinson and Osborne are exempt PGA TOUR Americas members after finishing inside the top 60 in the Latin America Swing, Moldovan finished No. 20 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking and Ponder earned medalist honors at PGA TOUR Americas Q-School to achieve membership for the North America Swing.
