Svoboda shines at U.S. Open

St. John’s University alum Andrew Svoboda may not have made the cut in his first career PGA tour event in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck over the weekend, but getting there was an accomplishment in itself.
“I played well considering it was my first time in an Open,” he said. “It was an incredible chance to play with the big boys and get on the biggest stage in golf. I know I handled myself really well out there and I’m proud of the fact that I got to compete.”
Svoboda closed out his fairytale run at the 2006 U.S. Open on Friday, June 16. He was just one stroke short of making the final cut.
Svoboda matched his round one score of 75 in the second round on Friday for a combined 10-over-par 150.
Svoboda, 27, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2004 U.S. Amateur before he turned pro, is one of only four players to simultaneously hold the Met Open and the Met Amateur titles. Svoboda has reached the second stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School on more than one occasion, but had not been able to advance further until now. He currently plays on the Hooters minor-league tour, which he will now return to.
He was one of 18 players in a field of 153 to qualify for the U.S. Open at the Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., on Monday, June 5. Svoboda fired a second-round 65 and finished with a five-under par 137.
“He’s just a great ball striker and an absolute warrior on the golf course. You could just tell he would be good,” St. John’s golf coach Frank Darby said of Svoboda as a freshman. “It was great watching him walking around there [with all the established pros] and fitting in. He belonged out there.”
– Zachary Braziller