CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — Jose Luis Ballester, a senior-to-be at Arizona State, became the first player from Spain to win the U.S. Amateur, fending off Iowa sophomore Noah Kent 2 up Sunday at Hazeltine in the 36-hole match on his 21st birthday.
Ballester, who was the only player in the top 10 of the world amateur ranking to reach the round of 16, took the lead on the second hole and never trailed. He joined Jon Rahm as the only players from Spain to win a USGA tournament. Rahm, who also played for the Sun Devils, won the U.S. Open in 2021.
Both finalists gained exemptions for the Masters and the U.S. Open next year, and Ballester also got a spot in the British Open.
Ballester trailed at some point in each of his last three matches before leaning into the moment and taking control out of the gate in the grueling final. Wearing a red polo, yellow pants and black socks to match his country’s colors, Ballester went 3 up after four holes after two early birdies and had a 4-up lead at the lunch break on a vintage late-summer day with a slight breeze and a high of 82 degrees.
Kent, who entered the week as a long shot at No. 560 in the world amateur ranking, refused to fade on the exhausting final day.
He hit a long putt for eagle on No. 25 — the seventh hole on the course — to move within two. Then after falling behind by four with seven holes to go, the player from Naples, Florida, snapped back to win Nos. 31, 32 and 34 and pull within one.
On the 34th hole, Hazeltine’s signature lakeside No. 16, Ballester hit into the thick rough off the tee and, then after clipping a tree, landed in worse shape in the reeds. He wound up with a bogey.
But with his lead down to one, Ballester got back on track to par the final two holes. Kent hit into the bunker, then the rough. His last-chance chip overshot the hole.
Wearing a white polo with a Hawkeyes logo, Kent was attempting to become first Iowa player to win the event. The 19-year-old had the clear edge in fan support with dozens in gold Caitlin Clark shirts cheering from the gallery.
The kid who grew up playing hockey hadn’t trailed from the 12th hole of his second round match, having beaten 17th-ranked amateur and Big Ten rival Jackson Buchanan of Illinois 2-up in their 18-hole semifinal match on Saturday.
Ballester, who won the European Amateur last year, took a congratulatory call from fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia after his semifinal win over Luis Masaveu, another player from Spain, in the semifinals.
Hazeltine, which was designed by Robert Trent Jones and opened in 1962 in what was then mostly farmland and now a suburb filled with lakes cul-de-sacs about 25 miles southwest of Minneapolis, last hosted the men’s amateur in 2006. Since then, the course has seen the PGA Championship (2009), the Ryder Cup (2016) and the Women’s PGA Championship (2019). The Ryder Cup is due back in 2029.
The event began Monday with 312 players over two courses, boiling down to the Ballester-Kent marathon in the 130th edition of the tournament that has helped launch many greats of golf into a decorated career on the pro tour.
Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are among the dozens of notable names who won the U.S. Amateur. Jones won the event a record five times. Woods won three. The last European to win the U.S. Amateur was Viktor Hovland of Norway in 2018 at Pebble Beach.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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