Daniel Miernicki

The third trip to U.S. Open sectionals proved to the charm for the former University of Oregon standout. Miernicki lost out in a playoff in 2012 and failed to advance again last year. This year at Tacoma Country & Golf Club, he survived a 4-for-1 playoff for the final spot from the Lakewood, Wash., sectional. He holed a 25-foot birdie putt to win the playoff. In 2006, Miernicki shone brightly against both local and global competition with a second-place individual finish in the California State Championships and a third-place finish at the World Junior Golf championships. The following year, he would finish seventh in the World Junior Golf championships. During his first season at Oregon in 2008-09, he earned PING All-America honors, the first freshman to do so since 1970. The following year, Miernicki was named to the United States team for the 2010 Palmer Cup at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Portrush, Northern Ireland, where he would be one of two winners of the Michael Carter Award. Since 2012, Miernicki has participated in events on the PGA TOUR, the PGA TOUR Latinoamericana, the Web.com Tour and the Mackenzie Tour. He won his first Mackenzie Tour event in August of 2015 at the ATB Financial Classic by one stroke, thanks to a 35-foot birdie putt on hole 72. His lone professional win came in the 2015 ATB Financial Classic on the Mackenzie Tour-Canada.