The U.S. Open is certainly the most democratic of all the tournaments on the PGA Tour. This year, as of the time of this writing, 73 golfers in the field made it because they advanced out of local and sectional qualifying. That number will likely go up as the final few spots get filled in and players (like Phil Mickelson) drop out.

It is the biggest tease in golf. All you need is a 1.4 handicap and a couple hundred dollars, and you can get a chance at winning a major! Of course you can't win a major, and many of the golfers who qualified out of local and sectional rounds won't either. But there are still some awesome storylines heading into this year's even at Erin Hills, including several involving amateurs. Let's take a look at seven of them as the second major of the year gets underway.

Stewart Hagestad (a): The reigning U.S. Mid-Am champion and low am at the Masters in April played his way into the U.S. Open as well. Raise your hand if you had: "Stewart Hagestad will play more majors in 2017 than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson combined." Hagestad qualified in California, and he's a stud. I wouldn't be surprised to see him make the weekend and finish in the top 25.

Brad Dalke (a): The Oklahoma Sooner is coming off a team national championship in May and finished second at the U.S. Amateur to Curtis Luck last year. He narrowly missed the cut at the Masters in April, but he'll be riding high from that NCAA win at Rich Harvest Farms just a few weeks ago.

Walker Lee (a): This Texas A&M-bound golfer just graduated high school and is only 19 years old. He was a lot more calm and collected after his sectional qualifier than I would have been. He also wins the "golfer whose name most sounds like he just committed to Texas A&M" award. A U.S. Open-playing golfer at A&M named "Walker Lee?" Are you kidding me?

Steve Stricker: This is obviously a big name for this type of list, but Stricker qualified after getting turned by the USGA for an exemption into the tournament in his home state of Wisconsin. That's what we like to call a win-win for everyone involved.

Nick Flanagan: The former U.S. Amateur champion caddied for Aron Price at last year's U.S. Ipen at Oakmont (where he also won his U.S. Am). This year, he'll play at Erin Hills in his first U.S. Open since he was cut in 2004 following his U.S. Amateur win. Maybe Price could return the favor.

Joaquin Niemann (a): He is currently the No. 1 amateur in the world and reigning champ of the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. Niemann qualified in Florida alongside former Gators golfer Tyson Alexander. 

Scott Harvey (a): The 39-year-old played on the 2015 Walker Cup team and lost to Hagestad at the U.S. Mid-Am last year despite leading by four with five holes to go. Harvey is playing his second major (he was cut at the Masters a few years ago) but first U.S. Open. Harvey owns a property management and real estate company and is making another run at the Walker Cup team.