Vidanta World is much more than a clever concept from an advertising creative. The resort where the course hosting this week’s Mexico Open of the PGA Tour is located is a world in itself. It’s no exaggeration. It’s vast. Even too much. It has a theme park like Disneyworld, the golf course, a cable car to move around inside, nine luxury hotels, countless restaurants, a Cirque du Soleil theatre… It’s promoted as Mexico’s great holiday destination, although our protagonist is not exactly there to lounge around and sunbathe. He has a mission in mind and nothing and no one will distract him from it. It’s Josele Ballester. Just hours before his second tournament on the PGA Tour begins, the US Amateur champion speaks to Ten Golf to update us on his life, his goals, his golf, the experience of the Phoenix Open, the Masters just around the corner, and much more…
As we say, the Mexico Open starting tomorrow – with a tee time at 20:38 Spanish peninsular time – is his second experience in a regular PGA Tour tournament. In the first, the Phoenix Open two weeks ago, he didn’t make the cut. It didn’t go as he wished, but he gained a lot from it. He learned a lot of valuable things. “It wasn’t as I would have liked, that’s clear, but it did help me realise that I have more than enough game to be with all these guys for a long time. From tee to green, I played excellently, but I was very erratic on the greens. It also helped me prove to myself that I have no problem playing in such a big atmosphere as the one there. We know that sometimes it can be a show, even a circus, but I handled it very well,” he assures. Even the most seasoned can get shaky legs on a stage like the 16th tee, but that wasn’t the case for Josele. In fact, he admits he felt very calm, even relaxed and enjoying the moment. Test passed. He won’t find many hotter crowds in the world.
Like the great champions, Josele learns quickly. What happened to him on the greens of TPC Scottsdale has made him reflect and draw conclusions. “It was a matter of routines. You see that the first putt doesn’t go in, nor the second, and you start to obsess a bit with the hole. You want to sink it without following the procedure. Sinking putts is a consequence of doing the process well from start to finish, following the routine. That’s my first and main goal for this week in Mexico: to follow my routine 100% regardless of the result. This is a course for hitters, more or less open, and the way I’m hitting it, long and straight, things can go well,” he states confidently.
Ballester is already in the history of Spanish golf for his victory in the US Amateur, so he is not someone with small goals. He thinks big, although he has his feet on the ground. It’s a splendid mix. “I know for sure that I have the ability to have a great week and be up there on Sunday, but the first thing I have to do is prove it to myself. You have to go step by step, making the cut is the priority, then doing well on Saturday and finally giving myself a chance on Sunday. I know I’ve played three professional tournaments and haven’t made any cuts. It’s a thorn in my side and I want to remove it. At the same time, I know I have more than enough game to fight for much more than the cut, but first is to make it. I know it’s not the most ambitious, but you have to achieve small goals to reach the others,” he explains with extraordinary maturity.
There are exactly 50 days left for the Masters at Augusta. For someone like Josele, who is going to debut as an amateur, it’s not easy to get it out of his head. Much less since he has already made the first visit, played it, and loved it. “By participating in the Masters, we have the right to play five rounds before the tournament week. Last weekend I went for the first time. If I already knew it was a very special place, now even more so. It’s marked in red on the calendar. I’ve always thought it’s a course that benefits me, it’s not narrow. Playing it as an amateur fascinates me even more. The most beautiful stories are with amateur players. I was with the club people and it’s incredible how they support and respect the amateurs who participate,” he notes.
Augusta National never ceases to amaze. From the very moment of arrival. “They took me to a room before playing, a waiter approached me and asked what I wanted for breakfast, no menu or anything, whatever I wanted. Then, for lunch, there was a menu, all spectacular. They invite you, take you to the shop, all very special…”, he states. Previously, to play at Augusta, you had to go with a member who acted as a host, but now you can play alone, only with a club caddie. That’s what Josele did. “I trained as much as I wanted. I played two rounds. In the first, I scored +1, making some absurd mistakes typical of not knowing the course, and in the second, I scored -2. The course was playing quite long and cold,” he remarks.
It’s not easy to choose what impressed you most at Augusta on your first visit, but Josele makes an effort for Ten Golf and chooses four moments. “I was impressed by the tee shot on the 11th hole. I thought it was to the right of the 10th green, and it’s far to the left. It’s spectacular, difficult, but spectacular, I loved it. Of course, the 12th hole, obviously, where I did the Jaimito on the first day, as expected, the wind tricked me, and I ended up in the water. On the 16th hole, two moments, I hit a great shot to the flag that’s always played on Sunday, catching the slope, very beautiful, and then, as tradition dictates, I hit the ball just before the lake so it bounced several times and ended up on the green, as seen in practice rounds,” he recalls. Everything needs to be trained. That too.
Josele is fully focused on what remains for him as an amateur. He still has very important goals: this very Mexico Open, the Masters, winning the Nationals with Arizona State… Quite something. However, he has time and capacity to think about the future. He has made the decision about when he will turn pro. “It will be right after the NCAA Final. The US Open (at Oakmont) I will play as a professional,” he confirms to Ten Golf. As for his future once his brilliant amateur stage is over, we’ll see, everything is still open there. It will largely depend on what happens in the PGA Tour University. If he finishes in the first place and earns the PGA Tour card, there is practically no doubt that we will see him playing the American circuit. If that doesn’t happen, he will have to study the different options available to him and make a decision. He doesn’t close any doors. What he does know for sure is that for now, he will continue living in the United States.
In any case, step by step. With everything. He has it clear. To sink putts, first the routine. To be up there in tournaments, first make the cut. To turn professional, “I still have to close my amateur stage in the best possible way, achieving several beautiful and ambitious goals I have, and then I’ll sit down with my team, and there will be time to study everything,” he concludes.
