Objectively, Josele Ballester (+6) did not have a great debut at the US Open. The young golfer from Castellón handed in a card of 76 strokes in the first round at Oakmont and is positioned in the lower middle of the leaderboard. However, there are quite a few positives that the US Amateur champion has managed to take away. For starters, he managed to climb out of a hole that seemed impossible after just an hour of play…
We find ourselves on the tee of the 4th hole. Josele started with three bogeys. He three-putted on the 1st, a devilish green, was cruelly punished by the backspin effect on the 2nd, and paid the price for missing the fairway and green on the 3rd. Immediately after, with the +3 weighing heavily on the scoreboard carried by the match volunteer, he missed his drive on the 4th and ended up in one of Oakmont’s legendary and voracious ditches. He literally found himself in a hole and ended up making another bogey on the only par 5 of the first nine. A good bogey, by the way, considering that his fourth shot was still from 180 metres.
The recent graduate from Arizona State was having a tough time, but he didn’t let the ghosts win the battle. He stuck to his strategy, talked a lot with his caddie, Javier Erviti, remained positive, and didn’t shrink. The golf wasn’t working from the tee, something crucial on this course, but his approach shots were quite good. In fact, a great 7-iron on the 6th hole was the first big flash of light he saw on the round. Even before, on the 4th and 5th, he had hit two very good shots, but the one on the 6th was confirmation that yes, Oakmont is tough, a monster, but it can also be tackled with Ballester’s wide range of skills. The path was set.
Not even the bogeys on the 8th and 9th hurt him. On the gigantic par 3 of the 8th, which, by the way, is being played from the back today, the bogey is accepted naturally. It can happen. No need to dwell on it. And on the 9th, he hit the drive just as he wanted and ended up in the ditch due to a bad bounce on the fairway. He wasn’t going to blame himself for that either. He barely managed to get the ball onto the fairway, but his third shot to the green was very good again. More bright spots.
From there, a really good sequence followed. Two under par over the next five holes. Not many players will achieve two under over five holes at Oakmont this week. He made birdie on the 12th with a great putt and added another on the 14th with another long putt, specifically the mother of all long putts. It was 25 metres. From his house. DeChambeau acknowledged it with a raised finger, and Ballester smiled. In fact, he never stopped smiling, even when the round looked bleak.
In fact, the bogey on the 17th hurt Josele more than the first six he made. Again, a mistake from the tee. He missed to the right, the only place not to go today, with the flag very short and long to the right. He finished with another bogey on the 18th, but he accepts that more naturally. In fact, in the end, it was a great bogey, signing a great recovery from the long green rough after missing the fairway to the bunker and being forced, once again, to simply get it back onto the fairway. He made a great two-metre bogey putt.
Josele has managed to stay very much alive in the battle to make the cut. Calculations suggest that if playing conditions remain, the cut is likely to be at +8, give or take a stroke. He has room. Ballester takes away many positives: the attitude, the irons, how comfortable he felt on the greens after his two work sessions with Eric Dietrich, and the experience of sharing a round of golf at the US Open with Schauffele and DeChambeau: “two great guys. From Bryson, I was surprised by the power he puts into his irons, those of his that are a bit more closed. The drive doesn’t impress me as much, we’re more or less there in distance, but the irons, yes. I was also surprised by how straight it goes and that it has a ball flight that seeks the draw, a closed ball. I didn’t know that. I was clear that Xander’s flight is the draw, but not so much with Bryson. By the way, I’m keeping that shot in my head because I struggle to do it. I can, I have it, but it doesn’t come out with confidence and security. I have to practice it,” he notes.
Josele finished encouraged and, most importantly, convinced that he can make the cut tomorrow. However, he knows he needs to straighten out the driver a bit. He dedicated a good part of the afternoon to that right after finishing his round. “Tuesday and Wednesday I hit it very well from the tee, but today I didn’t feel as comfortable. I’ll see if I can get some good sensations,” he commented.
