The USGA accepted 2,738 entries for the tournament — including 106 from Colorado — with 75 being exempt from qualifying. The entry deadline for the event was Wednesday.
Joining Irwin (20 PGA Tour victories, including three U.S. Opens) among World Golf Hall of Famers who have entered the championship at The Broadmoor’s East Course are Tom Watson (39 PGA Tour wins), Vijay Singh (34), Davis Love III (21), Tom Kite (19), Mark O’Meara (16), Fred Couples (15), Bernhard Langer (3, including two majors) and Colin Montgomerie (41 international victories).
Besides Irwin, players who grew up in Colorado and are in the field are 1996 U.S. Open champion Steve Jones and fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe.
In all, 11 U.S. Senior Open champions have entered the event at The Broadmoor: Irwin (1998 and 2000), Kenny Perry (2013 and ’17), Langer (2010), Montgomerie (2014), Jeff Maggert (2015), Peter Jacobsen (2004), Fred Funk (2009), Gene Sauers (2016), Olin Browne (2011), Brad Bryant (2007) and Roger Chapman (2012).
Others among the exempt players who are planning to play at The Broadmoor are John Daly, Mark Calcavecchia, Steve Stricker, John Cook, Tom Lehman (who won the 2010 Senior PGA Championship at Colorado Golf Club), Corey Pavin, Lee Janzen, Billy Mayfair, Rocco Mediate, Gil Morgan, Jesper Parnevik, Tom Pernice Jr., Loren Roberts, David Frost, Jay Haas, David Toms, Scott Hoch, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Scott Verplank and Kirk Triplett.
The Broadmoor is hosting its second U.S. Senior Open and its eighth USGA championship, with winners at the resort including Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorenstam and Juli Inkster. The Broadmoor is celebrating its 100th anniversary on the Friday of the championship, June 29.
Thirty-four qualifying tournaments for the U.S. Senior Open will be held starting Monday. The Broadmoor will host a qualifier on May 28, with Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway among those competing.
In all, the U.S. Senior Open field will feature 156 players.
One golfer with strong Colorado ties who won’t be playing is Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and former Aurora resident Mark Wiebe. Wiebe said on Twitter this week that he withdrew from the exempt list due to a lingering neck injury.
The golfer from Sweden not only landed a spot in the third major championship of the year, but he earned medalist honors out of a field of 72 at the Gailes Links Golf Course in Scotland on Tuesday. He carded rounds of 64-68 for a 10-under-par 132 total in the final stage of The Open Qualifying Series, leaving him four strokes ahead of runner-up Scott Fernandez of Spain. Colin Montgomerie, who once competed in 21 consecutive British Opens but hasn’t played since 2010, was the third qualfier at the site, finishing at 137.
Arvidsson, ranked No. 1,418 in the world, eagled his first hole, a 346-yard par-4, to spark his big day.
Arvidsson, who turned pro two years ago and has been playing on the Asian Development Tour, has dreamed of competing in the British Open since as a youngster watching a video of Mark Calcavecchia winning the 1989 Open at Royal Troon. Coincidentally, that Scottish course will host this year’s Open July 14-17.
During his senior season at DU (2013-14), Arvidsson won the individual title at the 2013 Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins, along with Cameron Harrell. (Arvidsson is pictured above during that tournament.)
In all, 12 players qualified for the British Open in four qualifying tournaments this week.
(July 15 Update: Arvidsson posted rounds of 75-84 at Royal Troon and missed the 36-hole cut.)