US Open tee time awaits Docherty less than a month after horrific car accident

OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — What Alistair Docherty thought was smoke was really the powder bursting out of the freshly deployed airbag.

There was no mistaking the blood and glass covering everything in the wrecked white minivan.

Docherty was driving May 20 when he got T-boned in an intersection, two days before the Korn Ferry's Visit Knoxville Open. On June 2, the 31-year-old, who missed his PGA Tour card by two spots at the end of last season, qualified for the U.S. Open.

At 6:45 a.m. Thursday, Docherty will tee off at Oakmont. It's no stretch to say he's happy to be here, but Docherty wants more than just a good memory to close out this wild three weeks.

“It’s not a miracle,” Docherty said after wrapping up a practice round that hardly looked possible less than a month ago, as he was tangled in the blood and glass. “I’m very thankful. But it’s definitely where I believe I’m supposed to be. Everything works out for a reason. I’m just trying to take advantage.”

The pictures tell the story best.

One is of the passenger's side of the minivan, sitting in the grass near the intersection, crumpled almost beyond recognition after getting slammed by an SUV that ran a red light.

Another is Docherty lying in a hospital bed, lips pierced, eyes barely open, wearing a hospital gown draped over part of his neck collar.

“My car spun around a few times. I felt glass and everything come at me,” Docherty said. “I opened my eyes and thought I saw smoke. I jumped out of the car as quickly as possible. It ended up being the stuff coming out of the airbag. I walked around a little dazed, and I was covered in blood and glass.”

At the hospital, doctors and nurses were able to clean the glass off his body — no major damage there. The scans came back clean — nothing broken, either.

Docherty said his shoulder and legs took the brunt of the crash. Constant work with the physical therapist allowed him to set his sites on June 2 at Duke University Golf Club. He shot 72-64 in the 36-hole qualifier to earn one of seven spots available there.

The third part of that photo essay is him holding his invitation to play in the U.S. Open this week.

Docherty knows he's lucky to be here but he's aiming for more — knowing a strong performance in this, his first major, could result in his second life-changing moment in a month.

“This is a great test to see where my game is at right now,” he said. “If you show up thinking ‘I don’t have a chance here,' then you're done. so, I believe I have a chance to play my best here and see where it puts me.”

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Alistair Docherty chips onto the fourth green during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Alistair Docherty chips on the third hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Alistair Docherty tees off on the second hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Alistair Docherty chips onto the first green during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Alistair Docherty hits from the first fairway during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Alistair Docherty tees off on the fourth hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Alistair Docherty hits from the first fairway during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Alistair Docherty chips onto the third hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Huge crowds flocked to the area outside Bangladesh’s national parliament building in the capital Wednesday to attend the funeral prayers for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia , who died a day earlier at the age of 80 after a prolonged illness.

Waves of people from Dhaka and elsewhere had been streaming in toward the venue on Manik Mia Avenue, outside the parliament building, since early morning. Witnesses said many cried, calling Zia their “mother” as they arrived at the venue, with some traveling overnight from rural areas to join the prayers. In neighborhoods kilometers (miles) away, crowds also spilled into major streets to pray.

Zia’s funerals were expected to draw hundreds of thousands of her supporters and people from across the country while dignitaries from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal also arrived in Dhaka, with local media saying foreign envoys and representatives from 32 countries joined the funeral ceremony. She will be buried beside the grave of her husband, a former president who was assassinated in a military coup in 1981, in a park outside the parliament building later Wednesday.

Zia came to politics after her husband’s death and rose to prominence as an opposition leader during a nine-year movement against a former military dictator who was ousted in a mass uprising in 1990. Zia became prime minister for the first time in 1991, with a landslide victory in a democratically held national election as the country introduced parliamentary democracy. She was the leader of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party till her death.

Zia, who was known for having a calm demeanor, maintained a strong political rivalry with her archrival and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina, who heads the Bangladesh Awami League party, ruled the country for 15 years before she was ousted in 2024 in a mass uprising.

Zia's coffin, draped in Bangladesh’s national flag, was carried in a van escorted by security officials and party supporters from the hospital to her residence and then to the funeral venue.

Authorities said about 10,000 security officials including soldiers would be deployed around the venue to maintain order on Wednesday.

Bangladesh’s interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus announced a three-day mourning and declared Wednesday a public holiday to facilitate the funerals. Flags were kept at half-staff Wednesday across the country to show respect to Zia, the country’s first female prime minister who served two full terms and another brief term.

Zia’s eldest son, Tarique Rahman, is the acting head of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is the front-runner in the nation’s next elections in February.

Hasina, who has been in exile in India since Aug. 5, 2024, was sentenced to death in November on charges of crimes against humanity involving last year’s uprising.

FILE - Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia looks upwards as she attends a rally of her supporters outside their party headquarters in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, March 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

FILE - Khaleda Zia takes an oath of office as the prime minister in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Oct. 10, 2001. (AP Photo/Pavel Rahman, File)

FILE - Bangladesh's former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia, center, leaves court after a hearing in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 10, 2016. (AP Photo, File)