Beau Hossler contends at U.S. Open

June 13, 2012 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Beau Hossler

Southern California 17-year-old posts a solid 70 to be among the early leaders

SAN FRANCISCO – He's only 17, and a Junior in High School. But Beau Hossler carries himself around the course with the confidence of a second year U.S. Open qualifier who will not be content with anything but making the cut and playing his best.

Last year, Hossler shot 76-77 at Congressional and expressed dissatisfaction with his performance. After birdies on two of the final three holes in this year's sectional gave him another chance, the 3-time AJGA champion is using that experience at Olympic Club, picking the right clubs to find fairways off the tee and keep big numbers off the card.

Teeing off the 1st hole in the second group at 7:11am, Hossler carded back-to-back bogeys on the 4th and 5th holes, but birdied the short seventh and finished the front nine at 1- over. On the back nine, he nailed a fairway wood to precision and birdied the 14th, and made birdie. (Michael Allen, 36 years his senior, recorded an eagle two there earlier, by the way.)

Hossler followed a bogey on the excruciatingly long 16th (670 yard par-5) with a birdie on 17 and closed with a par to shoot 1-under 35 and put himself in excellent shape heading into tomorrow.

Here is a look, courtesy Golfweek Magazine, at all eight amateurs in the U.S. Open field:

Patrick Cantlay | Age: 20 | Hometown: Los Alamitos, Calif. | College: UCLA

The skinny: Cantlay is the only amateur who didn’t have to qualify for this year’s Open. He was exempt as the winner of last year’s Mark H. McCormack medal, given to the No. 1 player in the R&A World Amateur Rankings. Cantlay is trying to earn U.S. Open low-amateur honors for the second consecutive year, and top-amateur honors in a third consecutive major. He was T- 47 at this year’s Masters and is coming off a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championship two weeks ago. He shot a tournament- low 66 in the final round at Riviera. He was 11th in this season’s Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings after ranking first last year.

Beau Hossler | Age: 17 | Hometown: Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. | School: Santa Margarita HS

The skinny: Hossler is making a second consecutive Open, giving him more experience at this championship than some of the PGA Tour players in the field. He shot 76-77 to miss last year’s cut. He finished second June 6 at the California state championship, just two days after he qualified for this year’s Open. He’s No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Junior Rankings and has made a verbal commitment to NCAA champion Texas for the 2013-14 campaign.

He's used to qualifying for USGA championships at an early age. He played in the 2009 U.S. Amateur as an eighth grader.

Brooks Koepka | Age: 22 | Height: 6-1 | Hometown: Wellington, Fla. | College: Florida State

The skinny: The long hitter from Florida State is making his last amateur appearance this week. He advanced out of a playoff at the Lecanto, Fla. sectional qualifier. He was 20th in this year’s Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings after winning three times.

Koepka was twice voted Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year.

Alberto Sanchez | Age: 17 | Hometown: Nogales, Ariz. | College: Arizona State

The skinny: Sanchez, No. 188 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Junior Rankings, joins Hossler as players in the U.S. Open field who have yet to start college. He’s scheduled to begin his freshman season at Arizona State later this year, where he’ll be coached by Tim Mickelson. Sanchez earned his U.S. Open berth at nearby Lake Merced Golf Club and TPC Harding Park, which are both within 10 miles of Olympic Club. He’ll turn 18 on Sunday. He spent the past two years at La Jolla Country Day School. “He’s one of those guys who in general doesn’t have a strength or a weakness,” Mickelson said. “He just goes about his business.”

Sanchez graduated from La Jolla Country Day School in California on June 1 and qualified for the U.S. Open three days later.

Nick Sherwood | Age: 21 | Hometown: Albany, Ore. | College: Oregon State

The skinny: Sherwood, an Oregon State senior, is playing his first USGA championship. He beat Oregon first-team All-American Daniel Miernicki in a playoff to keep Miernicki from joining his college coach, Casey Martin, in the field at Olympic. Sherwood, No. 353 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, has two career top-10s in three college seasons. He was medalist at last year’s Oregon Amateur. This was the third consecutive year he advanced to U.S. Open sectional qualifying. “It’s a little bit of a step up, but hopefully I’m moving in the right direction,” Sherwood said. “Just a month ago I struggled on my home course (he shot 80 in the final round of the Pac-12 Championship). It’s golf, man. If you just keep your head down and believe in yourself, good things will happen.”

Sherwood will have his father, Bill, as a caddie. His father was a member of the 1987-88 Oregon State basketball team.

Jordan Spieth | Age: 18 | Hometown: Dallas | College: Texas

The skinny: Spieth has been riding an emotional rollercoaster. He helped Texas win the NCAA title June 3, holing out for eagle 2 on Riviera's par-4 15th to beat Justin Thomas, the nation's No. 1 player, in Texas' final match against Alabama. He had U.S. Open sectional qualifying the next day in Houston, but lost a playoff for a U.S. Open spot. He got into the field Monday evening after Brandt Snedeker withdrew. Spieth was No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings in his recently-completed freshman season at Texas. He has plenty of experience in Tour events, having contended twice in his hometown Byron Nelson Championship. He missed the cut at this year's Northern Trust Open and was 41st in this year's Valero Texas Open.

Cameron Wilson | Age: 19 | Hometown: Rowayton, Conn. | College: Stanford

The skinny: Wilson is paired in the first two rounds with another Stanford product, Casey Martin. Wilson’s focus isn’t all on golf this week, though. The Stanford junior tweeted Sunday, “Writing a paper on Islam and 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Don't think my competitors are doing same.” He rebounded quickly from the NCAA Championship two weeks ago, where he finished 123rd, to win his sectional qualifier at Canoe Brook in New Jersey.

Andy Zhang | Age: 14 | Hometown: Kissimmee, Fla. (originally from Beijing)

The skinny: Andy Zhang earned a spot in the U.S. Open after Paul Casey withdrew with an injury on Monday afternoon in San Francisco. Zhang was the second alternate - behind Jordan Spieth - after losing in a playoff to Brooks Koepka at a sectional qualifier in Lecanto, Fla. Zhang plays out of Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Fla., where he is coached by Andrew Park. Originally from Beijing, Zhang has lived in the United States since he was 10 and has won a pair of junior titles over the past four years. Read Nick Masuda's interview with Zhang after receiving the news on Monday.

Results: U.S. Open Golf Championship

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
T21	Jordan Spieth	Dallas, TX	800	74-74-69-70--287
T29	Beau Hossler	Mission Viejo, CA	800	70-73-70-76--289
T41	Patrick Cantlay	Los Alamitos, CA	500	76-72-71-72--291

View full results for U.S. Open Golf Championship

About the U.S. Open Golf Championship

The U.S. Open is the biggest of the 15 national championships conducted by the USGA. Open to amateurs and professionals. Amateurs gain entry via USGA win or runner-up finishes while having the opportunity to qualify alongside non-exempt professionals...