Change of plans: Mason Howell's breakout summer continues with dominant U.S. Amateur win

NBC Sports

10 hours ago

SAN FRANCISCO – The Howells had dinner plans, so Robert Howell told his 14-year-old son, Mason, to be waiting outside the front of the clubhouse at Glen Arven Country Club in Thomasville, Georgia, by 5:30 p.m. No exceptions. But when Robert and his wife, Lauren, pulled up, Mason was nowhere to be found.
So, where was Mason?
He'd just posted an 8-under 28 on the front nine, playing in a fivesome that included then Auburn standout Megan Schofill, who would win the U.S. Women's Amateur that next summer.
'Can I finish?' Mason texted, pleading with his parents.
Initially, Robert didn't budge, but when the club's longtime director of golf, Bill Connally, saw the teen trudging through the clubhouse with his magnificent, yet incomplete scorecard in hand, he immediately asked, 'What the hell are you doing?'
It wasn't long before the Howells had canceled their reservation, sending Mason back out to chase down the course record, which he'd ultimately break with a 13-under 59.
'I knew then that he had to ability to go ridiculously low,' Robert said.
To this day, Mason's score hasn't been touched, not even by Schofill, whose USGA championship victory in 2023 prompted Glen Arven to purchase a $42,000 replica of the Robert Cox Trophy, which sits on display in the clubhouse, inspiration to the many young players who walk through its doors.
Soon, that trophy will have company – Mason Howell's Havemeyer Trophy.
Howell became the third youngest U.S. Amateur champion ever by knocking off Tennessee's Jackson Herrington with a 7-and-6 win in Sunday's scheduled 36-hole final at the Olympic Club. At 18 years, 1 month and 20 days old, Howell bumped Tiger Woods, who claimed his first of three straight U.S. Amateurs as a slightly older 18-year-old, from the podium.
Howell is also the first junior player to lift the Havemeyer since Matt Fitzpatrick in 2013.
And his margin of victory was the largest since Bryson DeChambeau beat Derek Bard by the same result in 2015.
'I've always known I've had this in me,' Howell said. 'It was just a matter of unlocking it.'
"To be holding this right now, it's truly surreal."
The 18-year-old is going home to Georgia as a USGA champion! pic.twitter.com/nfR3ME7KQv
When Connally began working with a fifth-grade Howell, who at the time was commuting from Tallahassee, Florida, he couldn't help but draw parallels with one of his former students. Connally coached Harris English through high school, and Howell's swing – that big, long arc – was a spitting image of the five-time PGA Tour winner, especially now that Howell stands 6 feet, 4 inches tall, the byproduct of growing nearly a foot from eighth grade to freshman year.
Howell's issue had always been that he swung way too hard.
'We've worked on hitting different trajectories, with different speeds, trying to get him to operate at about 80%,' Connally said. 'When he gets bad, he's usually swinging it higher than 80%. … He doesn't need to step on it.'
And yet, figuratively, Howell has found that extra gear in recent months.
Before Howell shined in the shadows of the Golden Gate Bridge, he launched this sensational summer on a different bridge. Back in late April at Glen Arven, Howell, then a junior at the Brookwood School, needed birdie on his final hole of regulation to force a playoff for the Georgia Independent Athletic Association's Class AAA state individual title. But after hitting his tee ball onto a paved pedestrian bridge, Howell appeared destined for a runner-up finish for the second straight year.
What happened next was something of legends, as Howell played his approach off the bridge, hitting 9-iron to 9 feet, making birdie, and later defeating Jackson Byrd in extra holes.
From there, Howell fired 63-63 at Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta to qualify for his first U.S. Open.
At Oakmont, he missed the cut but soaked up practice rounds with the pros, including English, and unlocked his chipping.
He medaled at the U.S. Junior Amateur, too.
Jimmy Gillam, Glen Arven's assistant pro who also serves as Howell's high-school coach and short-game instructor, played several years on the mini-tours and still boasts a plus-6 handicap.
'He's honestly the first guy in my life that I've ever had to get shots from,' Gillam said. 'I think the last time I beat him was before he qualified for the U.S. Open. I think we've played 10 times since, so I've just been getting my a-- kicked.'
The only frustrating part of Howell's summer had been his match-play performance. He didn't win a match at the Wyndham Cup, failed to reach the bracket stage of the AJGA's RLX Ralph Lauren Junior Classic at Bethpage, and became the first top seed to lose his first-round match at the U.S. Junior in 23 years. Sure, he fell to Henry Guan, nearly a top-100 amateur in the world, but Howell didn't care.
'That was a tough pill to swallow,' Howell said. 'Then I went into the Junior PGA and felt like I was hitting it great, just couldn't get anything out of it.'
Howell's T-9 finish in Indiana kept him off the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team, a year after he missed qualifying for the Junior President Cup by a shot.
'He came in here with a little bit of something to prove,' said Robert Howell, a personal injury attorney who played college tennis at Valdosta State.
The young Howell almost didn't prove anything, needing to birdie his last hole Tuesday on the Ocean Course just to shoot 3-over 73 and get into a 20-for-17 playoff, where he advanced with a bogey on the second hole of sudden death.
'He added about 10 years of my life the last six holes of medal play,' said Gillam, Howell's caddie this week. 'I told him when we were walking off 18 green he had to put my daughter's name in his will.'
But Gillam knew if Howell could get into match play, that this time would be different. They'd talked recently about Howell staying more patient, about not worrying so much about what his opponents were doing, about remaining stoic.
It worked, as Howell, the 63rd seed (just like 2012 champion Steven Fox), ran through a gauntlet of matchups – Texas' Tommy Morrison, then another Walker Cupper in Oklahoma's Jase Summy, then Illinois' Max Herendeen, then recent Southern Amateur champion John Daly II, then Oklahoma State's Eric Lee, who earlier this summer earned the clinching point for the Cowboys in the NCAA final.
All that led to Howell's final opponent, Herrington, the 19-year-old from Dickson, Tennessee, who was born with so much firepower that he'd frequently cave in driver faces as a high-schooler until he found the right equipment.
A day earlier, Herrington, nicknamed the Fridge, had shut the door on a dream run for Scotland's Niall Shiels Donegan, who moved to nearby Mill Valley at 3 years old and who drew hundreds of supporters to Olympic throughout the week. Herrington silenced the raucous crowd by stuffing a lob wedge to 6 feet and rolling in the winning birdie putt, which came with invitations to next year's U.S. Open and Masters.
On the line Sunday was not only an extra major exemption, into next summer's Open Championship, but also an automatic spot on the 10-man U.S. Walker Cup team.
English, who was competing in the BMW Championship, had texted Howell, a Georgia commit, frequently in recent days, each time with a similar message: Keep your foot on the gas, and don't let up for one second or somebody else will walk through that door.
Herrington took the first step, leading 1 up after two holes, but as Herrington's ball-striking began to fall apart, Howell won each of the next three holes, eagled the par-4 seventh after driving the green and carried a 4-up advantage into the break, which surpassed two hours thanks to a 4-7 p.m. television window and Howell threatening to end things considerably early.
Howell was 6 up after taking two of the first three holes after lunch, and with Herrington winning just one hole in the afternoon, Howell arrived at the par-4 12th hole, on the far northeast corner of the property, with a 7-up lead.
Herrington missed another fairway, flew the green with his approach and then raced his chip well past the hole. Howell, on the green in regulation, just needed to cozy his birdie putt close, which he did with ease. Herrington didn't even need to see him tap in for par before taking his hat off in concession.
'I just played terrible, can't lie,' Herrington said. 'I hit some good shots like this one [on 12] that didn't even end up close. I thought I flagged it, and it flew 10 yards too far. I didn't even know what I was doing, and I couldn't figure it out.'
The only thing Howell seemingly missed these past few days was his first week of school. He won't make his classes on Monday, either. And in a few weeks, he'll need to call out again for a return trip to California, specifically Cypress Point, site of the Walker Cup. Not to mention next April.
His teachers, though, have been understanding.
They know Howell has bigger plans.