Rob Rashell is playing his first season on the PGA Tour. Throughout his rookie year, Rashell will provide a frequent glimpse of what it's like to break into the Tour.

For those of you who are not familiar with the U.S. Open qualifying process I’ll give you a quick recap. 

For the actual tournament there are roughly 75 players who are exempt — top 50 in the world rankings, top 30 from last year’s PGA Tour money list, etc. To fill the remainder of the field the USGA takes roughly 10,000 entries and whittles them down to make up the rest of the field.  To do this they divide players into local and sectional qualifiers. A player must play his way through the local qualifier and the sectional qualifier to earn a spot in the field of 156. There are a handful of players who are exempt from local qualifying for some reason or another, my exemption came from being a full time member of the European Tour.

I signed up for sectional qualifying in Washington D.C. and was one of about 156 players playing for 22 spots. Each sectional qualifier is played over 36 holes in one day with all ties being broken in a sudden-death playoff at the end of the day. Having drawn a good tee time (first group out) I took advantage of some good conditions and shot 7-under 65. I’ve been working hard on driving the golf ball and in the first round hit 13 of 14 fairways. Playing from the middle I was able to give myself a lot of good chances for birdie and was lucky enough to roll a couple of them in.

Rookie on Tour Return to Q-School Family, friends, fun Learning from Tiger Taking time off Practicing patience   Major highs, lows Open a thrill It's the driver Alligator ... yum! Clubs, car ready Raindelay by a nose Alternate anxiety Rain, rain go away Pebble amazing Home, sweet home Pro-Am popular Club changes Happy in Hawaii

Knowing the job was only half over, I knew I needed to go out in the afternoon and keep making birdies. I got off to a slow start with a bogey on my second hole of the day, but finished strong from there.  With four birdies and one more bogey I finished the second round 2-under par for a two round total of 9-under. I finished the day in a tie for fifth place, more than good enough to earn a spot at Pinehurst.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming week. I’ll be trying to manage all the distractions and prepare myself as well as possible. My parents and one of my coaches, Bill Meyer, will be making the trip with me to share in the experience and offer some support.

I have to keep my excitement in check a bit as the week begins because of the amount of energy needed to have a good week in the U.S. Open. I’ll be patient with most my practice sessions, probably playing only nine holes a day, using the rest of the time to work on my game and reserve energy. Playing too much too early in the week can make the lead up to the tournament more draining than the actual rounds. Each player is different in that regard and each player will have their own strategy in preparation for Thursday.

As would be the case with many players, I’m coming here to contend, to have a chance to win the tournament with nine holes to go on Sunday afternoon. I’m looking forward to the challenge of a U.S. Open golf course setup and will no doubt learn a great deal about myself as both a person and a player. 

How do I handle adversity on the golf course? How well do I manage the distractions a big week like this can produce? All of these questions will be answered shortly and will serve as great indicators of where my game is and what I’ll need to work on going forward.

Yes, I’m pretty excited to be playing in our national championship. I remember many days of sitting and watching the coverage from beginning to end, hoping to get a chance to play one day. I would envision myself playing in the last group on Sunday afternoon with a chance to win, to walk in the footsteps of all the great players who have ever played the game.

For now, I’m tied for the lead with 72 holes to go.

(Editor's note: Rashell made the cut and tied for 42nd)

2005 results     How Rob Rashell stacked up on the PGA Tour this year. He made six of 25 cuts and earned $84,391. — 11/3-11/6: Southern Farm Bureau Classic (70-70-69-69—278, -10, 44th-tie, $9,070) — 9/22-9/25: Texas Open (67-73—140, Even, cut) — 9/15-9/18: 84 Lumber Classic (71-76—147, +3, cut) — 9/8-9/11: Canadian Open (72-73—145, +5, cut) — 9/2-9/5: Deutsche Bank Championship (75-73—148, +6, cut) — 8/25-8/28: Buick Championship (73-69—142, +2, cut) — 8/18-8/21: Reno-Tahoe Open (77-77—154, +10, cut) — 7/21-7/24: U.S. Bank Championship (71-72—143, +3, cut) — 7/14-7/17: B.C. Open (74-70—144, Even, cut) — 7/7-7/10: John Deere Classic (72-72—144, +2, cut) — 6/30-7/3: Western Open (72-72—144, +2, cut) — 6/23-6/26: Barclays Classic (75-73—148, +6, cut) — 6/16-6/19: U.S. Open (74-72-73-74—293, +13, 42th-tie, $26,223) — 5/26-5/29: St. Jude Classic (73-68-69-71—281, +1, 39th-tie, $20,090) — 4/28-5/1: Zurich Classic (74-73—147, +3, cut) — 4/21-24: Houston Open (78-73—151, +7, cut) — 3/31-4/3: BellSouth Classic (79-73—152, +8, cut) — 3/10-3/13: Honda Classic (73-68-76-70—287, -1, 58th-tie, $12,100) — 2/24-2/27: Chrysler Classic (71-68-71-75—285, -3, 64th-tie, $6,300) — 2/17-2/20: Nissan Open (73-72—145, +3, cut) — 2/10-2/13: Pebble Beach Pro-Am (72-75-73—220, +4, cut) — 2/3-2/6: FBR Open (77-74—151, +9, cut) — 1/26-1/30: Bob Hope Classic (66-76-73-72—287, -1, cut) — 1/20-1/23: Buick Invitational (73-72—145, +1, cut) — 1/13-1/16: Sony Open (73-67-74-69—283, +3, 56th-tie, $10,608)

MORE FROM GOLF

Golf Section Front

Nordqvist wins LPGA Tour Championship Out of Bounds: Tiger booed ... at Stanford? Latest golf videos Latest player news, rumors and more Tracking Tiger: News, features and more Tiger's triumphs: Recapping all Woods' wins Vote: When will Tiger win his 15th major? Vote, discuss: Best major of 2009? Special section: Golf on NBC Discuss: Sound off on golf at Newsvine.com Golf Section Front   Add Golf headlines to your news reader: