The 18th of August, 2024 is already a date etched in the history of Spanish golf. It will always be remembered as the day when José Luis Ballester won the first US Amateur for our country. Coincidentally, the same day as his twenty-first birthday. Yes, excuse the cliché, but it’s a reality. Can you think of a better gift? At Hazeltine, Chaska, Minnesota.
Ballester has defeated a warrior from the University of Iowa named Noah Kent by 2 up on the 36th hole. Extremely hard and very suffered. Josele always led, but had to wait until the end to knock down a golfer whose golf may not enamour, but who shows the same resistance as Rocky Balboa.
Ballester imposed his power and quality from the beginning. On hole 4 he was already 3 up and never lost command in the duel. Moreover, the impression, once the first 18 holes were completed with a score of 4 up for the Spaniard, was that he was going to win even comfortably, of course before reaching hole 36… Ha!
Josele has withstood the pressure well, at no time has he crumbled, nor has he started to tremble, but we already know that golf can be tremendously treacherous, and much more so match play. Kent made it clear that he was not going to give up. He was not going to wave the white flag. If Josele wanted to win, he had to knock him down. No wonder his friends told Kent before starting the match play phase of this US Amateur: “remember that for anyone you have in front of you it will be bad news to play against you in match play”. Well yes. He is a fierce opponent even though he is 560th in the world in the amateur ranking.
Kent closed to two taking advantage of the two par fives of the first nine holes of Hazeltine. The second was with a kilometre-long eagle putt from his house. Incredible. However, Josele’s response was tremendous and seemed definitive. He took holes 28 and 29, one with par and another birdie and went back to 4 up with seven to go. It seemed like the end of the movie. But no.
Kent came back again. Already against the ropes he started to be more aggressive. He won with par holes 13 and 14, that is, 31 and 32, and got two from Josele with four to play. It tightened. It was the stretch where Ballester showed more doubt. It is not easy to close a final of this type with so much at stake. The most complicated thing in sport is to win, since there comes a time when the prize can paralyse you to lose what you already practically believe you have achieved.
It cost Josele. But he brought out the gladiator inside him when he needed to. He pulled off a sensational birdie at hole 15 to tie with Kent the hole. He was at a disadvantage and his putt was longer, but he made it and shouted a “come on” that was heard all over the state of Minnesota. At 16 came the big mess. He missed the exit, a tree prevented him from going into the water, but from two he did end up in the penalty area. From bad to worse. He lost the hole and was only one up with two to play.
From there, hats off to Josele. With all the pressure and the feeling, now very real, that he could let slip something that he was already savouring. He played a textbook hole 17, putting for birdie and getting an easy par. And he played a textbook hole 18 again, centre of the fairway, good shot to green and easy par to win the US Amateur. Kent messed up on the last hole and the Spaniard didn’t even have to throw the par putt. He had finally knocked him down. What suffering and what joy at the same time. Huge.
¡Historia hecha! History made! 🇪🇸
@sundevilmgolf‘s Jose Ballester is the first U.S. Amateur champion from Spain! pic.twitter.com/ckR7T45Z5g— USGA (@USGA) August 18, 2024
Josele Ballester is the first Spaniard to win one of the most prestigious amateur tournaments in history. He enters a list of winners that includes Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods, to name just a few. In addition, he earns the exemption for the Masters, US Open and Open Championship in 2025. Only in the US Open does he allow him to use the invitation having turned professional. For the other two he must remain an amateur.
Ballester has achieved something that no one before had achieved in Spain. Neither Seve, nor Olazábal, nor Sergio, nor Jon Rahm. For all these reasons, without a doubt, Ballester is from today eternal in golf and in Spanish sport.
