The 21-year-old – who goes by the nickname of ‘Koala Karl’ – was the only Australian to earn one of the 45 spots on offer to the 645 players who teed it up in US Open Final Qualifying.

Dubbed ‘Golf’s Longest Day’, 13 Aussies contested 36-hole qualifiers across America but only Vilips was victorious in advancing, earning co-medalist honours with US amateur Isaac Simmons at Woodmont Country Club in Maryland.

A two-time Junior Presidents Cup representative, Vilips opened with a round of 3-under 68 on Monday morning and followed it up with a 1-under 70 to finish at 4-under and secure a maiden major appearance.

After a bogey at the par-4 17th, Vilips birdied his final hole to finish one shot clear of what would have been a five-for-three playoff scenario.

Vilips’ qualification takes the total number of Aussies who will contest the US Open to seven, joining Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Cam Davis, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Jason Day, Lee dropping a “See you there,” complete with koala emoji on Vilips’ Instagram post.

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A post shared by Karl Vilips (@koalakarl2001)

Of those who narrowly missed out, Marc Leishman came closest, also at Woodmont Country Club.

Two shots from first spot at the start of the second round, Leishman had a run of four bogeys on his front nine to turn in 2-over, ultimately signing for a 3-over 74 to be tied for eighth.

Bogeys at 14 and 17 in his second round effectively ended the hopes of Matt Jones at Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles as Harrison Endycott and Justin Warren finished in a tie for 14th and 18th respectively at Canoe Brook Country Club in New Jersey.

Hailing from Perth, Vilips first came to notice within world golf when he won the US Kids World Championship at just seven years of age.

That early success brought Vilips to the attention of schools within the US and he attended high school at Saddlebrook Prep in Florida.

His success in the junior ranks – he rose to No.1 in the American Junior Golf Association junior rankings in 2018 – opened the doors to the best college golf programs within the US.

With an alumni that includes Woods and Tom Watson, Vilips elected to attend Stanford University where he has continued to forge an outstanding amateur career.

He won the gold medal representing Australia at the 2018 Youth Olympics, was named to the All-Pac-12 Newcomer Team as a freshman and was a member of the Stanford team that won the 2023 Pac-12 Championship, finishing tied for sixth in the individual standings.

US Open Final Qualifying
Woodmont Country Club
Rockville, Maryland
60 players for 4 spots
T1           Karl Vilips (a)      68-70—138
T8           Marc Leishman  68-74—142
T21        Travis Smyth       73-73—146

Hillcrest Country Club
Los Angeles, California
89 players for 5 spots
T13        Matt Jones          71-67—138
T17        Grant Booth        67-72—139

Old Chatham Club
Durham, North Carolina
76 players for 5 spots
54           Jimmy Zheng (a, NZ)        74-71—145
WD        Rhein Gibson      71

Brookside G&CC and The Lakes G&CC
Columbus, Ohio
103 players for 11 spots
T24        Aaron Baddeley 69-71—140
T31        David Micheluzzi               72-70—142
T43        Daniel Gale         74-69—143
MC         Nick Voke (NZ)   67-77—144
WD        Geoff Ogilvy        78

Canoe Brook Country Club
Summit, New Jersey
67 players for 4 spots
T14        Harrison Endycott             72-70—142
T18        Justin Warren     72-72—144

Hawks Ridge Golf Club
Ball Ground, Georgia
43 players for 3 spots
31           Hamish Murray (a)          76-73—149