Webb Simpson doesn't want to miss any major tournaments at this stage of his career.

But for the 38-year-old Raleigh native and 2012 U.S. Open champion — who grew up playing golf in the area — making the field in this year's event at Pinehurst No. 2 was extra special.

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"This place is my favorite place," said Simpson, who played golf at Broughton High School and Wake Forest University. "

Simpson, ranked 220th in the world in the Official World Golf Rankings, had a difficult path to reach the Open. He had to qualify through a harrowing 36 holes at Duke University Golf Club on June 3, one of 10 final qualifying events.

Simpson shot 3-under in his first 18 holes, but struggled in his second round. When he bogeyed No. 17, he thought all was lost. His caddie told him that Simpson was still in the thick of it. A birdie on the 18th sealed it for him.

"Especially for someone who understands how sweet it is to be in a major, especially the U.S. Open here at Pinehurst, there was that pressure on me," Simpson said.

He continued: "I just didn't want to miss the U.S. Open in my backyard."

Simpson, a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour, has not played in the last four majors. He's missed the cut in the last three majors that he has played in: the 2023 PGA Championship, the 2022 British Open and the 2022 U.S. Open. This will be his 12th U.S. Open, including a tie for 45h in the 2014 tournament at Pinehurst.

"I felt more pressure in '14, my first time playing a major here," said Simpson, who once ranked as high as No. 4 in the world. "Now I kind of see it as a gift to be here. I didn't get in. I had to go qualify. And so I feel like it's all upside. My game is so much better than it was a year ago, as weird as it sounds, I feel like I can compete."

He certainly has a familiarity with the course and the area.

His family built a house in the area, Simpson said. So in middle school and high school, his family would spend the weekend playing golf at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst. He played in a slew of amateur events in the area, but never won the Donald Ross Junior, the North-South Junior or the North-South Amateur events in the area.

But Simpson and his late father, Sam Simpson, won the Donald Ross Father-Son, played a day after the junior tournament. Simpson said they won in a playoff in the alternate shot event with Sam hitting a drive in the fairway and Webb hitting his iron to three feet and Sam making the putt.

"I was so excited," Webb said. "And he looked at me like he was mad at me. I said, 'What? We just won.' And he's like don't ever do that to me again. Hit it to 20 feet. Don't hit it to three feet."

The U.S. Open, which ends on Father's Day, often becomes a story about fathers and sons — and golf. Simpson is not different. He said he thinks about his father, who died in 2017, daily and how they'd have walked the course together before the tournament.

"He lived in Raleigh. He worked really hard," Webb Simpson said. "But when he'd come to Pinehurst on Friday, you'd really see him decompress. And he loved to play golf."