FARMINGDALE, N.Y. - When Derek Tolan left his home outside Denver earlier this week, his friends at ThunderRidge High School had the typical request.

"A lot of people asked me to get Tiger's autograph, Mickelson's, Duval's autograph," Tolan said yesterday.

Tolan won't be your typical teen-ager here at Bethpage State Park for the 102nd U.S. Open.

He won't be selling hot dogs.

He won't be holding a portable scoreboard.

He will be playing.

At 16, Tolan is the youngest player in the field and one of the youngest ever to play in his country's national championship. (Ted Oh was 16 when he played in the 1993 Open. Tyrell Garth, 14, was the youngest when he appeared in the 1941 Open. Morgan Pressel, then 12, qualified for last year's U.S. Women's Open.)

Instead of playing in a junior event in North Carolina this week, Tolan qualified for his first Open by winning a three-way sudden-death playoff that included former PGA Tour veteran Mike Reid and another local pro. Tolan won with a 50-foot chip on the first playoff hole.

"At first it was sort of confusing," Tolan said. "It has not hit me that I'm playing in probably the biggest tournament in the world. I've been striving toward some of the big junior tournaments, maybe playing in some amateur tournaments this year, and all of a sudden, I'm playing in the U.S. Open."

Tolan has spent his time here practicing on the Black Course with several regular tour pros, including former Open champion Steve Jones, and has a tee time today with David Duval, Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland.

Not that his first few days here have gone without any glitches.

Yesterday, Tolan got to the locker room and realized he had left his identification badge in his golf bag on Monday.

"They asked me who I caddied for, so that was a little different," said Tolan, whose caddie went into the locker room to retrieve the player's badge. "On Sunday night, we had to get escorted to the locker room to get my tennis shoes."

Tolan's father, John, a pro at a family golf center near their home in Highlands Ranch, Colo., promised his son a car if he qualified for the Open.

"I was talking to him about qualifying for the U.S. Open one night and he said, 'You're going to have to play better than that,' " recalled the younger Tolan. "I sort of proposed a deal: 'How about if I qualify for the U.S. Open, you buy a car?' He shrugged his shoulders and was like, 'All right, sure. You get the car if you qualify.' "

Does he expect to collect?

"That was more just a pride thing against my dad. We always set bets like that, not in golf but in everything," Tolan said. "But everyone is hounding me about it. He'll come up with something; he's a good guy."

And how about those autographs for his buddies back home?

The players "stand out there and they devote a lot of time to autographs and stuff like that," he said. "I know when they get in the locker room, they just want to relax and chill out. You've got to respect that. That's one thing I won't be able to bring back for those guys."

Maybe just his identification badge.

That's if he doesn't lose it.

U.S. Open

When:Tomorrow through Sunday

Where: Bethpage State Park, Farmingdale, N.Y.

Par: 35-35-70

Length:7,214 yards

Playoff:If necessary, an 18-hole playoff would be held Monday

Purse:$5.5 million, with $1 million to winner

Defending champion:Retief Goosen

TV:Chs. 11, 4 (tomorrow-Friday, 3-5 p.m.; Saturday, 12:30-7 p.m.; Sunday, 1:30-8 p.m.); ESPN (tomorrow-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-7 p.m.)