José Luis Ballester wrote a brilliant page in the history of Spanish golf this Saturday. The player from Castellón defeated his friend and compatriot Luis Masaveu by 3 and 2 in a magnificent duel and has qualified for the grand final of the US Amateur. There are no buts or asterisks. It was a memorable duel, up to the occasion, with a great battle fought from power to power, but where Ballester was better. Make room for him in the annals. He will be the first Spaniard to play in the final of the US Amateur in 129 years of history. The appointment is this Sunday at Hazeltine, Chaska, Minnesota, against Noah Kent at 36 holes starting at 2.15 pm Spanish peninsular time.
Ballester has displayed sensational, flawless golf. He has been forceful and aggressive from the tee, powerful with the irons and magical around the green. He only faltered a bit with the putter, but nothing serious, just a missed opportunity in the early holes.
Josele, son of two Olympic athletes, clubmate of Sergio García at El Mediterráneo and heir to Jon Rahm at Arizona State, went all out from minute one. He held nothing back. It was wild golf from tee to green and silk around the hole. He hit driver every time, including a couple of second shots on par 5s from the fairway. Knife between the teeth. The strategy was clear: push, squeeze, choke and push again. Aware of Masaveu’s enormous potential, his goal was not to let him breathe.
The duel of the Spaniards was exceptional. While in the other semi-final it took nine holes to achieve the first birdie, it turns out that Masaveu and Ballester had already shared three in the first three holes. Really, Masaveu took the initiative on the scoreboard in the early holes, although it was really due to Josele’s failure on the short putts. Luis won the 1st and 3rd, playing by the book, and arrived 1 up at the 8th, where Ballester turned the match around and never looked back.
The player from Castellón won holes 8 and 9, took the lead and controlled the situation with an iron hand. Surely, the key to the match was at the 10th. Masaveu had the initiative to tie the match again. He had hit a great shot and had a putt of less than three meters for birdie. Meanwhile, Josele had missed the green on the right and had a very complicated recovery from the rough, with very little room. Ballester’s approach was heavenly. He pulled out a wonderful balloon and left the par given. A few seconds later, Masaveu missed the birdie putt and kept Ballester in the lead.
The Spaniards tie holes 11 and 12. Here the initiative is Luis’s, but Ballester responds with a great bunker shot on the 11th and another great shot from the sand, this time from a fairway trap, on the 12th. Masaveu sees opportunities slipping away and starts to get impatient. From here on, Josele’s dominance is absolute. He wins the 13th with a bad approach from Masaveu and prevails again on the 14th with another discreet recovery shot from the Madrid player. The match is already on track and the main difference has been in the short game.
Ballester has a first chance to win the match on the 15th, but a tie prevents it. He doesn’t miss the next one on the 16th. He wins without needing to putt, with a Masaveu who by then was already very demanding.
Sensational victory for Ballester, although much credit must be given to what both have done. They signed seven birdies, played aggressive, Josele did not commit any bogey… It was a golf of many carats and one hundred percent Spanish. To be very proud. It was a semi-final of much higher level than the other and it is not about sweeping for home.
With his qualification for the final, Ballester secures qualification for the Masters of Augusta and the US Open 2025. However, to play these two Majors (remember that he already played the British last year as European champion) he would have to maintain his amateur status until then, something that is not at all clear, or at least it was not until now, since there were already some sirens of professional golf and more specifically from LIV. We will see what happens.
Before, it’s the final against Noah Kent, who defeated Jackson Buchanan by 2 up and who is ranked in the world amateur ranking beyond position 500, while Josele occupies the tenth position. It’s the last hurdle. At stake is the gold medal and the Hanemeyer trophy, which no Spanish golfer has ever managed to win.
