Former CCU golfer Soderberg playing in his first U.S. Open

Dustin Johnson isn’t the only Coastal Carolina University alumnus competing this week at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.

Sebastian Soderberg of Sweden, who graduated from CCU in 2013, made the field for the 116th U.S. Open through an international sectional qualifier in England and joined Johnson for a practice round on Monday.

Soderberg, 25, turned pro in August 2013 a few months after completing his senior season at CCU and earlier this year won the Barclays Kenya Open on the European Challenge Tour with an 18-under 270 for his first pro win since he won a pair of events late in 2013 on the Nordic Golf League.

He was one of 97 players competing for 13 U.S. Open spots on May 30 at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England, and shot a 2-under 70-72–142 to enter a five-man playoff to determine the last three qualifiers.

Maximilian Kieffer of Germany holed out from a bunker for birdie on the first playoff hole and Soren Hansen of Denmark birdied the second hole, where Johan Edfors’ bogey dropped him from the running.

That left four-time European Tour winner Jeev Milka Singh of India and Soderberg to vie for the final spot. It took five holes before Soderberg made a birdie with a 25-foot putt to secure his spot.

Singh earned first-alternate status and also gained entry into the field following some withdrawals, including Tiger Woods, Darren Clarke and Thongchai Jaidee.

Soderberg has played predominantly on the Challenge Tour – the equivalent of the Web.com Tour in Europe – for the past couple years but has managed eight career starts on the European Tour, earning in 2015 a tie for third in the Nordea Masters in Sweden and tie for fourth in the Madeira Islands Open in Portugal.

Soderberg had a distinguished career at CCU. He won twice and was a four-time All-Big South Conference selection, and as a senior in 2012-13 he was the Big South Conference Golfer of the Year and an All-America honorable mention selection by Ping and the Golf Coaches Association of America.

This year marks the third U.S. Open that will feature two golfers who played at Coastal Carolina since the mid-2000s. Zack Byrd of Murrells Inlet joined Johnson at the 2011 national championship at Congressional Country Club and Andrew Dorn of Ohio joined him at Pinehurst Resort in 2014.

Soderberg goes off Oakmont’s 10th hole Thursday at 12:41 p.m. and the first hole Friday at 6:56 a.m., and is paired with fellow sectional qualifiers Zach Edmonson and Kent Bulle, both of the U.S.

This story was originally published June 15, 2016 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Former CCU golfer Soderberg playing in his first U.S. Open."