Desert golfer shoots 68 to win local US Open qualifier at PGA West

Michael Slesinski might not be accustomed to big galleries watching him play golf, but that certainly wasn’t the case Thursday at PGA West.

“I’ve never had anything like that, probably 40 or 50 guys and ladies,” said Slesinski, who plays much of his golf at PGA West. “They are members, my parents’ friends and my friends, because I play out here.”

Slesinksi gave the gallery a treat Thursday, firing a 4-under 68 to earn medalist honors at the U.S. Open local qualifying tournament at the Palmer Course at PGA West. The round advances Slesinski to sectional qualifying on June 2, the next step toward a possible berth in the U.S. Open on June 12-15 at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.

Five players from the 84-player local site will move on to sectional play, including Mark Williams of La Quinta. A former La Quinta High School and Cal State San Bernardino player, Williams sizzled with five birdies in his final eight holes, including birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. That gave Williams a 69 on the day, part of a three-way tie for second and a guaranteed berth in sectional play. Williams fired a 2-over 38 on the front nine before shooting a bogey-free 31 on the back nine of the Palmer Course, the former home of The American Express PGA Tour event.

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Jhared Hack of Las Vegas and Brian Doucette of Coto de Caza also shot 69s to advance out of the PGA West site. Five players tied for the fifth and final spot with 70s, with Ethan Farnam of Crystal Lake, Illinois, winning the playoff on the second hole.

Slesinski, 27 and originally from Fremont, has been conditionally exempt on the PGA Tour Americas (formerly PGA Tour Canada) the last two years but found few chances to play.

“The first year I got in about half of the events,” Slesinski said. “This year I didn’t get in any.”

In 2024 Slesinski missed advancing out of a local Open qualifier at Bermuda Dunes by one shot. Thursday at the Palmer Course, Slesinski teed off on the 10th hole and had three birdies and one bogey for a 2-under 34 for his opening nine holes. He matched that scoring on the front nine, with three more birdies and one bogey, for a total of 68, a winning score that might have seemed a little high on a course with five par-5s and scoreable par-3s on the back nine.

“Looking at the scorecard, you can think that. But one of the par-5s isn’t really, well, you can’t get there in two, so it is a three-shot hole,” Slesinski said. “But you have five par-5s, you have a wedge into one, you’d think someone could get to 5 or maybe 6. But the greens got a little firm and baked out in some areas and it’s just hard to make putts. I don’t know if it’s a little bit of grain or little subtleties in the greens, but it’s just hard to make putts.”

For Williams, the round was a story of different nines. Starting on the first hole, Williams birdied his first two holes, but then made two bogeys and a double-bogey 6 on the eighth hole to move to 2-over par. But the back nine saw five birdies, including the par-3s at the 15th and 17th holes and on the par-5 18th, to move him inside the line for an automatic berth.

Warren Pineo of Palm Desert, who has already advanced out of local qualifying for the Senior U.S. Open, shot a 71 on Thursday and missed the playoff at the Palmer Course by one shot.