U.S. Open Qualifying 2012: Davis Love III Among Sectional Qualifiers

The pairings and tee times are out for next week’s U.S. Open at the Olympic Club, and as they always seem to do, the USGA has created some spicy storylines with their groupings. The one headline group to end all headliners consists of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Bubba Watson. The UK equivalent of that power threesome consists of Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, and Lee Westwood.

With the national championship returning to the West Coast, the broadcast will once again be featured in primetime -- a tradition started at Torrey Pines in 2008.

Sectional Qualifying for the 2012 U.S. Open has already happened in Japan and England, but it begins in earnest in the United States this Monday, June 4, with 11 sites hosting dozens of golfers who are hoping to qualify for the second major of the year in golf.

Those sites are spread out across 10 states — only Ohio will host more than one Sectional Qualifier on Monday — and include some big names, like Springfield Country Club in Ohio and Lake Merced Golf Club/TPC At Harding Park in California. The event itself will tax the golfers playing in it, with 36 holes of play on the day and only about 60 spots available in the Open field.