Kevin Chappell looks for a major breakthrough at the U.S. Open

It was an ugly debut in the U.S. Open.

Three years removed from winning the NCAA individual and team golf championships at UCLA, Kevin Chappell earned a spot in the 2011 Open at Congressional Country Club and was staggered by shooting an opening 76.

Chappell fell 11 shots behind the eventual runaway winner, Rory McIlroy.

“You’re out of the tournament — that’s what it feels like,” Chappel recalled. “I really had to gather myself.”

It has been a theme for Chappell at junctures in his life — the harder things become, the better he responds, even in the face of tragedy.

The death of Chappell’s older brother in his senior year at UCLA inspired him to all but carry the Bruins to the national title in 2008. And the 29-year-old Fresno native’s playing career has been one of starts and stops, with achingly near misses.

This season, Chappell has thrice finished second — twice to world No. 1 Jason Day, in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship.

Yet he has never been in a better position for a breakthrough than he is now, ranked 37th on the eve of the 116th U.S. Open that begins Thursday at Oakmont Country Club.

And while many players bemoan the difficult test the course will produce, Chappell said Tuesday, standing in the shadow of the Oakmont clubhouse, “It’s going to be fun — all the different strategies you have to use.”

This is how Chappell handles adversity: After that terrible first round at Congressional, he shot 67 in the second round. Then a 69. And on Sunday, while McIlroy cruised to his eight-stroke win, Chappell stormed home with a 66 that pushed him into a tie for third.

A year later in the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club, Chappell hit more greens in regulation than all but three players and tied for 10th.

“I think he loves it when it’s tough,” UCLA golf Coach Derek Freeman said. “He knows that there are players that are not going to be able to physically handle it and mentally handle it.”

Freeman saw it first-hand in the 2008 NCAA Championships at Purdue’s home course, the longest in tournament history and possibly the nastiest. It was basically the U.S. Open of college golf, he said.

Chappell seized the individual title as the only player with a red number at two under. Rickie Fowler shot six over. Billy Horschel finished at plus-seven. Chappell also made the putt that clinched UCLA’s second team championship — by one shot over Stanford.

“I still don’t think I’ve had as great a team leader as I had in him,” Freeman said.

It was the support of his UCLA team “brothers” that got Chappell through a dark time after his own brother, Steven Casey Chappell, died in his sleep from heart failure in October 2007 at 24.

“We had a good group of guys, and they became family,” Chappell said Tuesday. “My focus really turned to golf in that situation. That’s how I coped with the loss.”

From the first tournament upon his return to the team, Freeman saw a change in Chappell.

“He was focused on what he wanted,” Freeman said. “You don’t take anything for granted; you work hard every single day. He constantly reminded us of that because of what he went through.”

While Fowler and Horschel reached the PGA Tour early in their careers, Chappell struggled to find his footing. He didn’t have a full-time card on the Web.com Tour until 2010, and he won that first year out at TPC Stonebrae in Northern California.

That earned him a promotion for 2011 to the PGA Tour, where he has remained. Chappell had two runner-up finishes in his first five years, surpassing that with the three this year. His best chance came in the Palmer at Bay Hill, where Chappell led Day by one late Sunday, but bogeyed the 18th while Day birdied the 17th and made a great par save at the last.

“Yeah, it sucks to lose by a shot, but it only makes me better for the times I’m in contention,” said Chappell, No. 9 on the FedEx Cup points list. “I’ve got to keep learning, keep executing better. Obviously, I wasn’t ready to win that day.”

Day is a source of comparison and inspiration. The Australian — one year younger than Chappell —- has played his best golf since having two kids. Chappell believes the same can happen for him. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have a 2-year-old son, Wyatt.

“It allows you to prioritize,” Chappell said. “I spend less time at the golf course and get more done. I want to be home with them, but I also owe it to them to give it all I have out here.”

tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com