Miles Russell was among two 17-year-olds who earned a spot in the U.S. Open on Monday. Still to be determined was whether Russell brings his caddie from the 36-hole qualifier — the son of three-time champion Tiger Woods — to Shinnecock Hills next week.
Russell, the No. 10 amateur in the world, survived a bogey on the first playoff hole and grabbed the fourth and final spot from the Florida qualifier. Charlie Woods is one of his close friends who has the same commercial agent and is following Russell to Florida State.
“It kept it so light,” Russell said. “It's the first time I've had a buddy on the bag. I really like it, not talking much golf, just having a good time.”
Russell smiled when asked if he would have Woods at Shinnecock Hills, saying only: “We'll see what he's doing. To be determined.”
The medalist from the Florida qualifier was Giuseppe Puebla, who ranks second behind Russell in the American Junior Golf Association ranking.
They were among 715 players at 10 sites from coast to coast and into Canada, all of them vying for 43 spots available for the 126th U.S. Open.
Previous qualifiers were held in England, Japan and Dallas.
Vaughn Harber, who just finished his sophomore year at Ohio State, played his final five holes at The Lakes in 5-under par — including an eagle — and then advanced in the 4-for-3 playoff in one of the two Ohio qualifiers. Jackson Van Paris birdied his last two holes to qualify without extra holes.
That qualifier also produced the first player from Iceland to play in the U.S. Open, Arni Sveinsson, who plays for LSU.
In the other Ohio qualifier, Billy Horschel found a happy note in an otherwise tough season when he was among five who made it through. Tony Finau missed out by two shots and will not be at the U.S. Open for the first time since 2017.
Here's how the other qualifiers looked (a-amateur):
QUALIFIERS: Neal Shipley, Zac Blair, Dylan Wu, Billy Horschel, Nick Hardy.
NOTABLE PLAYERS MISSING: Brandt Snedeker, Tony Finau, Cam Davis.
DIVOTS: Shipley, who finished his college career at nearby Ohio State, has missed the cut in nine of his 12 starts in his rookie year on the PGA Tour. ... Snedeker was the first alternate.
QUALIFIERS: a-Giuseppe Puebla, Ben Silverman, a-Ryder Cowan, a-Miles Russell.
NOTABLE PLAYERS MISSING: Matt Kuchar, Matthieu Pavon, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Luke Clanton, Luke Poulter.
NOTEWORTHY: Three of the four qualifiers are amateurs. ... Kuchar hasn't played in any major since the 2024 U.S. Open.
QUALIFIERS: Emiliano Grillo, Alejandro Tosti, Marcelo Rozo, William Mouw, John Parry, Max McGreevy.
NOTABLE PLAYERS MISSING: Max Homa, Matt Wallace, Garrick Higgo, Seamus Power.
NOTEWORTHY: The final three spots were determined by an eight-man playoff. ... Homa missed out in a playoff for the second straight year in U.S. Open qualifying.
QUALIFIERS: Jackson Suber, Ben Kohles, a-Logan Reilly, Jake Sollon.
NOTABLE PLAYERS MISSING: Blades Brown, Michael Thorbjornsen, Karl Vilips.
NOTEWORTHY: Sollon earned the final spot in a playoff over Bryan Lee. He was scheduled to leave for Bogota, Colombia, for a PGA Tour Americas event. ... Kohles was coming off a victory Sunday on the Korn Ferry Tour.
QUALIFIERS: Davis Thompson, J.B. Holmes, a-Vaughn Harber, a-Arni Sveinsson.
NOTABLE PLAYERS MISSING: Lucas Glover, Jhonattan Vegas, Bud Cauley, Austin Eckroat, Denny McCarthy, Erik van Rooyen.
NOTEWORTHY: Sam Udovich bogeyed his last two holes and was the odd man out in a 4-for-3 playoff. He will be the first alternate. ... What used to be the main qualifier for PGA Tour players only had a 51-man field.
QUALIFIERS: a-Jackson Ormond, Carl Yuan, Jackson Van Paris, Brandon Wu, Cole Hammer.
NOTABLE PLAYERS MISSING: Aaron Wise, Ryo Ishikawa, Bill Haas, Troy Merritt.
NOTEWORTHY: Ormond, an 18-year-old who will play at Florida next year, birdied five of his last seven holes for a 63 to go from outside the number to being the medalist. ... Haas, the son of Jay Haas, had his son caddying for him.
QUALIFIERS: Kevin Roy, Max Greyserman, Ben James, James Nicholas.
NOTABLE PLAYERS MISSING: Matt Jones.
NOTEWORTHY: James makes his pro debut this week in the Canadian Open. He finished atop the PGA Tour University ranking. ... Roy makes his U.S. Open debut in his native New York.
QUALIFIERS: Chris Kirk, Jake Peacock, Keith Mitchell, Robbie Higgins, a-Chase Kyes.
NOTABLE PLAYERS MISSING: Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Jason Dufner, Patton Kizzire.
NOTEWORTHY: Kyes birdied the last hole in near darkness to avoid a 3-for-1 playoff for the final spot. ... Potgieter can still get in the U.S. Open if he wins the Canadian Open this week, which would give him two PGA Tour victories since the last U.S. Open.
QUALIFIERS: Taylor Montgomery, a-Eric Lee, a-Matthew Robles, a-Marek Fleming.
NOTABLE PLAYERS MISSING: Geoff Ogilvy, Michael Block, Stewart Hagestad.
NOTEWORTHY: Matthew Robles birdied his last two holes. ... Thayer Plewe was one shot out of the lead when he took double bogey on the 16th, bogey on the 17th and missed a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
QUALIFIERS: Greyson Leach, Andrew Putnam.
NOTABLE PLAYERS MISSING: Michael Putnam.
NOTEWORTHY: Andrew Putnam won on Tuesday morning with a par on the ninth playoff hole over Spencer Tibbits. ... Leach finished his final season at Oregon last year and has played four PGA Tour Americas events this year.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
FILE - Miles Russell smiles after his tee shot on the 10th hole during the first round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic golf tournament at Detroit Country Club, June 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
FILE - A man works on the 18th green in front of the clubhouse at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Pope Leo XIV found himself in the midst of two of Spain's greatest rivalries — over soccer and language — as he landed in Barcelona on Tuesday during his weeklong visit to the country.
Spaniards don’t argue that much about issues like abortion or guns, but they do debate tirelessly about language and their favorite sport, whose significance transcends fandom.
The U.S.-born pontiff had rubbed Barcelona’s soccer fans the wrong way by saying he roots for Real Madrid instead of their beloved Barça. Barcelona’s residents had already been speculating that he might make minimal use of their native Catalan during his trip to Barcelona instead of Spanish, which he speaks fluently.
The pope sought to disabuse them of the latter assumption soon after his arrival by speaking first in Catalan. The languages and teams have been longtime wedges between Spain’s two biggest cities.
“The pope is for all teams, but Prevost is for Real Madrid" were the words that sealed Leo's sporting fate with many a Barça fan when he responded to a question on the papal plane en route to Spain.
Real Madrid proudly posted the video of the moment, and social media filled with comments about how the club is “the team of God.”
Tomás Roncero, a popular sports commentator for the widely read Spanish sports daily AS, said in a video that “the pope can’t be for Barça, because it is a sinful club ... in his heart he is of a pure and clean club like Madrid."
The Real Madrid-Barcelona divide is one of the biggest rivalries in club football.
For many non-Madrid fans, especially those in Spain’s regions with different languages and strong local identities like Catalonia, Real Madrid is associated with strong central power. Many consider it almost a pillar of the state, along with the central government and the Catholic Church. Barça, meanwhile, is closely aligned with Catalan nationalism, and was famously called "Catalonia's unarmed army."
The pope, who preached unity to Spain's capital, aligned himself closely with Real Madrid during events in the city.
On Monday, thousands of Catholics packed the stadium of Real Madrid for a rally with the pope featuring dancers kicking soccer balls, while dressed in the white and yellow colors of the Holy See.
“Today the Church in Madrid has scored a great goal to always be remembered!” Leo said at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, where he also met privately on the sidelines with Puerto Rican musical sensation Bad Bunny.
The pope even visited the club’s museum to peruse its packed trophy case with Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, who gave him a Madrid shirt with “Robert F. Prevost” on the back.
Folks in Barcelona noticed.
“A figure as important as he is shouldn’t take sides. Now that he has said that he supports Real Madrid, well, I am sorry, he has messed it up," said Eduard Modroño, an office worker and Barcelona fan. He noted that Leo and Madrid players, whose uniforms are pristine white, also dress similarly.
“He wears all white, doesn’t he? Enough said,” said Modroño, as he spoke outside the Sagrada Familia basilica, where the pope on Wednesday will celebrate a Mass in the major event of his stop in Spain’s second city.
Leo began his homily at Barcelona’s cathedral with a few words in Catalan and switched between it and Spanish in his first public address in the city.
“Beloved brothers and sisters, it is with great pleasure that I start my visit holding the midday prayer at this cathedral,” he said in Catalan.
Catalan and Spanish are spoken side-by-side in Catalonia, but are often weaponized politically.
Catalan, spoken by around 10 million people, was suppressed by Spain's 20th-century dictatorship under Gen. Francisco Franco, according to Catalans, who remain protective of their tongue. Its survival was an important driver of separatist sentiment during a recent push for independence that reached its peak in a failed breakaway bid in 2017.
The pope squeezed in a visit with Catalonia’s regional president, Salvador Illa, on Tuesday before a prayer vigil at the city's Olympic Stadium. Among other gifts related to the history of the Church in Catalonia, Illa gave him a reproduction of the 12th-century “Homilies d’Organyà,” a collection of sermons that is among the oldest examples of a Catalan literary text.
Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI used some Catalan when they visited Barcelona in 1982 and 2010, respectively. Spain’s king speaks Catalan when he's in Catalonia, but it's rare for Spanish politicians from non-Catalan speaking regions to do so.
The pope speaking a few words in Catalan may not be enough for many residents. But some were appreciative of the gesture.
“Speaking the language of the land that welcomes you is a wonderful act of love and respect. I hope you enjoy your visit to Catalonia, my nation,” Míriam Noqueras’ political party, Junts, said she told the pontiff — in English — when they briefly spoke at Spain’s parliament on Monday.
The archbishop of Barcelona, Juan José Omella, has tried to downplay the issue.
“The pope knew beforehand that he is coming to a country (Catalonia) where people speak a very old language that has never been lost through the centuries,” Omella told reporters. “He knows this and has prepared his speeches and his homily, while keeping in mind that he can only do so much and doesn’t want to end up looking silly in a language he doesn’t speak.”
For Modroño, the soccer fan, speaking in Catalan is more important than anything related to sports.
“It is a lack of respect not to speak entirely in Catalan," he said.
AP writer Nicole Winfield contributed to this report.
Pope Leo XIV waves to the cheering crowd upon arriving to attend a midday prayer at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Pope Leo XIV waves to the cheering crowd after attending a midday prayer at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Pope Leo XIV presides over the midday prayer in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia in Bacelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, on the fourth day of a seven-day apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo XIV presides over the midday prayer in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia in Bacelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, on the fourth day of a seven-day apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo XIV greets people as he leaves after presiding over a midday prayer at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Pope Leo XIV waves as he leaves after presiding over a midday prayer at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Pope Leo XIV waves to the cheering crowd after attending a midday prayer at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
