Latest news with #LatinAmericaAmateurChampionship
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Masters rookie grew up on island with 1.5 golf courses, and lied to watch Augusta coverage
Justin Hastings won't have to tell any lies to watch the Masters this year. The 21-year-old amateur golfer from the Cayman Islands is making his tournament debut after winning the Latin America Amateur Championship in January. At least, he's scheduled to make his debut, assuming he doesn't come down with another mystery illness. 'I don't know exactly when it started. I would assume sometime in middle school, the Thursday of the Masters I would come to my parents with a sickness, and it took them about two years to catch on before they started to be like, this is getting a little bit of a coincidence,' Hastings said on Monday at Augusta National. 'I was always a big Masters nut as a kid.' Hastings' rise to golf's highest level was anything but guaranteed growing up in a place known for luxury, but not for golf. 'There's one-and-a-half golf courses, an 18-hole public course and a nine-hole private course,' he said. 'I started when I was seven or eight years old. My dad brought me out. He was a casual golfer himself. I think I really just flew with it from there. In a month I was getting dropped off every day after school, and it wasn't ever practice to me, it was just fun.' It wasn't long before the fun turned into competition, and the golfing bug was complete. The Masters announces Tiger Woods set to design Augusta golf course Sightings from The Masters: What's new at Augusta National? 'I was competing in tournaments very early, and I think that's what drove me especially is just getting better and seeing myself compete and eventually win,' he said. 'I always had fun with the game as a kid, so I think the lack of resources just never had too big of a detrimental effect on me.' Hastings is a senior at San Diego State, where he recently broke Xander Schauffele's career scoring record of 71.50 with a career mark of 71.48. It was a fact the two-time major champion Schauffele first heard on Monday. 'I was not aware of that,' Schauffele said. 'That's not surprising. I would have never called myself some all-star when I was in college.' 'But that's good for him, and thank you for that. That's helping my confidence,' he added with a laugh. There are five amateurs in the field this week, although seven originally earned a spot. Amateurs Wenyi Ding and Jacob Skov Olesen chose to turn professional, foregoing the opportunity to play in the Masters. 'I don't want to speak on behalf of anybody else's decisions, but personally this is just too amazing of an opportunity to pass on for me,' Hastings said. 'It's been a dream ever since I was a kid, and I don't think there's anything in this world that could stop me from being here if I was given the chance.' Hastings learned the power of persistence at an early age and he'll need all of his skill and will this week. 'I'd push pretty hard, and eventually that just became a thing in my household, that the Thursday of the Masters Justin was going to be staying home to watch the coverage.' Not this year.
USA Today
07-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
These 21 golfers will make their first Masters start in 2025 at Augusta National
These 21 golfers will make their first Masters start in 2025 at Augusta National Of the 96 golfers set to tee it up in the 2025 Masters, almost a quarter of them are making their first start at Augusta National Golf Club. Included in the newcomers are five amateurs, PGA Tour winners and others. Three first timers have won the Masters: Horton Smith in 1934, Gene Sarazen in 1935 and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. Last year, Ludvig Aberg finished solo second in his debut. In 2014, Jordan Spieth tied for second in his first start before winning the Masters at 21 years old the following year. For these golfers, they'll hope to get their Masters careers off to a good start this week. Meet the 21 golfers who are making their first start at Augusta National in the 2025 Masters. First timers in 2025 Masters field Josele Ballester (a) How he qualified: Winner of 2024 U.S. Amateur Evan Beck (a) How he qualified: Winner of 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur Brian Campbell How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Rafael Campos How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Laurie Canter How he qualified: Top 50 OWGR by week prior to Masters Thomas Detry How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Nico Echavarria How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Max Greyserman How he qualified: Top 50 OWGR end of 2024 Justin Hastings (a) How he qualified: Winner of Latin America Amateur Championship Joe Highsmith How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Rasmus Hojgaard How he qualified: Top 50 OWGR end of 2024 Noah Kent (a) How he qualified: Runner-up at 2024 U.S. Amateur Thriston Lawrence How he qualified: Top 4, 2024 Open Championship Matt McCarty How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Maverick McNealy How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Taylor Pendrith How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Aaron Rai How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Davis Riley How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Hiroshi Tai (a) How he qualified: Won 2024 NCAA individual championship Davis Thompson How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event Kevin Yu How he qualified: Winner of PGA Tour event
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
These college golfers earned top-20 finishes in the 2025 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld
Josele Ballester and Justin Hastings each had a week to remember at the 2025 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld. The duo are among college golf's best, and they got to tee it up in Vidanta Vallarta. Ballester is the 2024 U.S. Amateur champion and Hastings captured the 2025 Latin America Amateur Championship earlier this year. They each received a sponsor exemption in the Mexico Open, where they were among the best in a field full of professionals. Hastings, a senior at San Diego State, finished at 13-under 271 for the week, good for a T-13 finish. Ballester, a senior at Arizona State, was a shot behind at 12 under, with a stellar round of 6-under 65 in the final round moving him 28 spots up the leaderboard Sunday. This was Hastings' second PGA Tour start, his first being a missed cut in Puerto Rico last March. For Ballester, it's his first made cut in his third start. He missed the cut in the WM Phoenix Open earlier this month. The duo have probably got used to seeing each other's name recently, but for good reasons. First, they're two of the five amateurs set to tee it up in April at the 2025 Masters. Second, they are both in the PGA Tour University rankings for the Class of 2025, with Ballester in fourth and Hastings in 15th. It's the tightest race for a PGA Tour card yet, and their top-20 finishes in Mexico are bound to push them up the standings as the time to earn points continues to tick down. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Pair of college golfers earn top-20 finishes at Mexico Open 2025
USA Today
30-01-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
How freshman Daniel Bennett led Texas men's golf to win at Southwestern Invitational
Daniel Bennett was the top-ranked player in the NCAA golf rankings entering the spring season, but there was still plenty to learn about the freshman from Texas. He played in only one stroke-play event in the fall, placing T-3 in the Ben Hogan Collegiate at Colonial Country Club. Add in a 2-1 record at the NB3 Match Play event, Bennett had performed well but yet to show what he was truly capable of for the Longhorns. That is, until what he did Wednesday. Bennett shot 4-under 67 in the final round of the Southwestern Collegiate, guiding fifth-ranked Texas to a come-from-behind victory to win by one stroke over San Diego State. The Longhorns trailed San Diego State by 13 shots after the opening round but found themselves tied with the Aztecs entering the final round of stroke play. That's when Bennett stepped up, his team-best 4-under performance helping Texas to its first victory of the season. The Longhorns finished at 8 under for the week, with San Diego State a shot back. Vanderbilt was the only other team to finish under par at Sherwood Country Club, finishing third at 4 under, and that happened with star Gordon Sargent shooting 14 over for the tournament and finishing T-63, only his second finish outside of the top 40 in his college career. Vandy junior Wells Williams claimed the medalist honors, beating Bennett by a stroke and finishing at 5 under for the week. It's the second win of Wells' collegiate career. Also tying for second was San Diego State's Justin Hastings, who earlier this month won the Latin America Amateur Championship, and Florida's Ian Gilligan.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How freshman Daniel Bennett led Texas men's golf to win at Southwestern Invitational
Daniel Bennett was the top-ranked player in the NCAA golf rankings entering the spring season, but there was still plenty to learn about the freshman from Texas. He played in only one stroke-play event in the fall, placing T-3 in the Ben Hogan Collegiate at Colonial Country Club. Add in a 2-1 record at the NB3 Match Play event, Bennett had performed well but yet to show what he was truly capable of for the Longhorns. That is, until what he did Wednesday. Bennett shot 4-under 67 in the final round of the Southwestern Collegiate, guiding fifth-ranked Texas to a come-from-behind victory to win by one stroke over San Diego State. The Longhorns trailed San Diego State by 13 shots after the opening round but found themselves tied with the Aztecs entering the final round of stroke play. That's when Bennett stepped up, his team-best 4-under performance helping Texas to its first victory of the season. The Longhorns finished at 8 under for the week, with San Diego State a shot back. Vanderbilt was the only other team to finish under par at Sherwood Country Club, finishing third at 4 under, and that happened with star Gordon Sargent shooting 14 over for the tournament and finishing T-63, only his second finish outside of the top 40 in his college career. Vandy junior Wells Williams claimed the medalist honors, beating Bennett by a stroke and finishing at 5 under for the week. It's the second win of Wells' collegiate career. Also tying for second was San Diego State's Justin Hastings, who earlier this month won the Latin America Amateur Championship, and Florida's Ian Gilligan. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Texas men's golf wins Southwestern Collegiate behind freshman's finish
