Paul Chang (USGA Photo)
Anyone who watched last year’s U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club will certainly remember
Paul Chang’s run to the final 16. A former club player at the University of Virginia, Chang begged the coaching staff for a chance to compete on the school’s varsity team and eventually showed that he had the chops to play at the highest level of collegiate golf.
His play at Cherry Hills certainly demonstrated that talent, as he registered a memorable eagle-2 in what became a highlight-reel, 19-hole, Round-of-16 defeat to John Marshall Butler.
A native of the People’s Republic of China who went to high school in England before arriving on the Charlottesville campus, Chang obviously has shown an affinity for USGA events, as the 23-year-old fired a 6-under 64 at stroke-play co-host Chaska Town Course on a glorious Monday to share the first-round lead with
Tom Fischer after the first round of the 124th U.S. Amateur Championship.
Chang is ranked No. 247, and Fischer is ranked No. 537 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
The competitors were treated to a perfect mid-August day in Minnesota with sunshine, little wind, and temperatures in the low 80s.
Scoring at Hazeltine National Golf Club, the two-time U.S. Open and PGA Championship venue that will host all of the matches beginning on Wednesday, was a bit higher, but a trio of golfers posted 3-under 69s: 15-year-old high school sophomore Sohan Patel, of Weston, Fla., and 2023 Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cuppers James Ashfield, of Wales, and Calum Scott, of Scotland, a rising senior at Texas Tech.
Only 17 of 156 competitors bettered the par of 72 at Hazeltine, while 66 were in red figures on the par-70 Chaska Town Course.
Chang’s 66 included another eagle 2, this time when he drove the 318-yard par 4 and holed his putt.
But since his run at Cherry Hills, Chang, a rising senior, has had a mixed bag of results, registering just two top 10s in his first season with the Cavaliers. This summer, his lone top 10 came in the Northeast Amateur in Rhode Island (9th) before he missed the cut in the Southern Amateur and Western Amateur.
“Coming into this event, I definitely feel a little different,” said Chang. “Last year, I didn’t feel like I belonged here at all. I was just testing the waters. Didn’t know who’s who. This year I was running into a lot of fellow players and saying hi. I really want to give it a good run this year.”
Fischer, 20, of Birmingham, Ala., got into the field in June when he captured the 108th Alabama Amateur at Shoal Creek with a 13-under total of 275. A rising junior at Ole Miss, Fischer posted the first top 10 of his career this past season in the Visit Knoxville Collegiate en route to a season stroke average of 71.23. On Monday at Chaska Town Course, he posted one of three bogey-free rounds that included an eagle on the par-5 ninth, his final hole of the day.
Eight golfers posted 4-under 66s at Chaska Town Course, which at 6,851 yards is just under 700 yards shorter than Hazeltine and played to a stroke average of 70.9, 5.2 strokes lower than Hazeltine. In 2006, CTC also was the stroke-play co-host for the U.S. Amateur and current PGA Tour player Billy Horschel carded a USGA 18-hole record 60 en route to medalist honors.
That group at 66 included 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up Evan Beck, of Virginia Beach, Va; 2024 California Amateur champion Caden Fioroni, of San Diego, Calif.; Cooper Claycomb, of Bowling Green, Ky.; Taehoon Song, from the Republic of Korea; Tyson Shelley, of Salt Lake City, Utah, a quarterfinalist in the Western Amateur two weeks ago; Matthew Manganello, of Las Vegas, Nev., Michael Alexander Mjaaseth, of Denmark; and Preston Stout, of Dallas, Texas.
Fioroni put a friend’s putter into his bag this week and found some magic to record one of the three bogey-free rounds among the 312-player field. Besides Fischer, Thomas Curry also had a bogey-free 69 at Chaska Town Course, making one birdie and 17 pars.
Fioroni also recently reached out to a friend of his father for some short-game advice and all of that paid off in Round 1.
“It felt pretty solid, especially for the way I hit it today,” said Fioroni, who spent his last three seasons at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas after transferring from Pepperdine following the 2020-2021 campaign. “My last two events, my short game’s been killing me – wedges, chipping, putting. I spent the majority of my time last week, like 75 percent, just working on my short game and wedges. Didn’t even acknowledge my swing much besides setup. I didn’t necessarily hit it great today, but you can play pretty good if you have those three going for you.”
Fioroni wasn’t the only player adding a new implement to his bag. Claycomb substituted his putter three days ago, leading to a five-birdie, one-bogey performance.
“My putting’s been shaky all summer, it’s just been uncomfortable,” said Claycomb, a rising sophomore at the University of Louisville. “So, trying to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations has really been the entire summer. You just have to stay confident, it’s all mental.”
In a field full of marquis juniors, including six of the eight boys from the USGA’s inaugural U.S. National Junior Team, it was Patel who bested them all on Day 1. A U.S. Amateur qualifier last year and the third youngest in the field behind Jaden Soong (14) and fellow 15-year-old Miles Russell, the lefty registered five birdies against two bogeys. He had a great chance to post a 68, but missed a 12-foot birdie attempt on No. 9, his final hole of the day.
“It was good. I played well,” said Patel, who shot 74-82 in last year’s U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club/Colorado Golf Club to miss the cut. “I tried to focus on playing one shot at a time. And that’s what I did…This course has proven to be really tough, so at any time you can really have a hole that takes you out of it.
“Really, game wise, obviously, made a pretty big job [from last year]. But really mentally I’ve made a big jump, not getting down on myself, being more positive on the golf course. And that’s really helped me.”
Ashfield, 23, had some travel issues getting to Minnesota from Manchester, England, as he and his English friend/caddie Rich Galley missed their connecting flight in Dublin last Wednesday. They didn’t arrive in Minneapolis until Thursday, but their luggage didn’t follow them. Galley still is without his clothes, while Ashfield got his clubs and suitcase in time for the weekend practice rounds.
On top of that, he’s been dealing with a right wrist issue for the past two years. An MRI didn’t reveal any significant damage and the Welshman has managed to compete through the issue with proper treatment. Hazeltine can inflict its own type of pain, but Ashfield hit 14 of 18 greens in registering five birdies against just one blemish, a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 10th when he hooked his 2-iron tee shot into the left rough, and eventually three-putted.
“You could say the greens are a little quicker than we normally play,” said Ashfield, the runner-up in this year’s Lytham Trophy and a member of Wales’ 2023 World Amateur Team. “I personally think it suits me a little better. A bit longer off the tee for me. A bit more mid-irons and short irons [into greens]. We [also] don’t have to deal with a 20- or 30-mile-per-hour wind like we do back home. It’s good.”
Scott has been on a roll since finishing runner-up in the NCAA Baton Rouge (La.) Regional in May. He finished T-11 in the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, Calif., was the runner-up in the St. Andrews Links Trophy, fourth in the European Amateur and a quarterfinalist in The Amateur Championship conducted by The R&A. Then he capped it all off by being the low amateur in The Open Championship at Royal Troon, tying for 43rd.
He arrived at Hazeltine at No. 12 in the latest World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®. Then he went out and made six birdies against three bogeys in his opening round.
“I’m delighted by how I played out there,” said Scott. “I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s really so penal out there that you have to hit fairways and greens. Sounds so simple, but yet it’s still so tough at the same time. This course isn’t very forgiving and if you’re able to give yourself chances, you’ll get some to drop.”
What’s Next
The 312 competitors will switch stroke-play venues on Tuesday for the second round, after which the field will be trimmed to the low 64 scorers for match play, which begins on Wednesday. Should a playoff be necessary to determine the final match-play spots, it would take place Wednesday morning at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
Match play continues Wednesday through Sunday’s 36-hole championship match. Tickets are available for purchase, while Peacock will stream the Round of 64, beginning at 5 p.m. EDT, with Golf Channel picking up the coverage from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Notable
Nate Deziel, of East Grand Forks, Minn., the 2024 Minnesota Amateur champion, had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Jacob Pedersen, who attended nearby Minnetonka High School and hails from Shorewood, Minn., hit the opening tee shot at stroke-play co-host Chaska Town Course.
Luke Clanton, fresh off a solo fifth finish in the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship this past weekend, carded a 1-under 69 at Chaska Town Course. Clanton took a private flight from Greensboro, N.C., to Minneapolis on Sunday night after playing 36 holes on Sunday. Clanton, the No. 2 player in WAGR, was paired with world No. 1 Gordon Sargent (72) and No. 3 Jackson Koivun (68), who swept all the major player of the year awards this past season as a freshman in leading Auburn to the NCAA title.
Two notables who shot 2-under 68 at Hazeltine were two-time U.S. Open qualifier Brendan Valdes and 2023 USA Walker Cupper Ben James.
Recent University of Minnesota graduate and 2024 Sunnehanna Amateur champion Ben Warian carded a 1-under 69 at Chaska Town Course and was the low Minnesotan. Gunnar Broin, of Shorewood, Minn., and one of three amateurs to make the cut in the 2024 U.S. Open, had a 74 at Hazeltine, where he works as a caddie.
Three USGA champions are serving as caddies this week. Cameron Peck, the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur champion and now assistant golf coach at the University of Houston, is on the bag of Cougar rising sophomore Chi Chun Chen. The person Peck beat in that final at Shoal Creek, Evan Beck, is competing this week as the reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up. Jack Larkin Jr., the 1978 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, is on the bag of his son, Jack Jr. Another father/son combination is taking place with 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and victorious 2023 USA Walker Cup captain Mike McCoy on the bag for his son, Nate, the 2024 Iowa Amateur champion.
Ryan Hybl, the 2006 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up and longtime men’s golf coach at the University of Oklahoma, is on the bag of Sooner rising junior Jase Summy. Another college coach with USGA ties, Oklahoma State’s Alan Bratton, is caddieing for Cowboy rising sophomore Preston Stout. Bratton, a member of the 1995 USA Walker Cup Team, was on the bag for OSU standouts Viktor Hovland and Peter Uihlein when they won the U.S. Amateur in 2018 and 2010, respectively.
Three-time PGA Tour winner Scott Stallings also serving as a caddie this week for fellow Tennessean Jake Hall. Stallings’ last win came a decade ago at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Austin Eaton III, a Lakeville, Minn., resident who won the 2004 U.S. Mid-Amateur and advanced to the semifinals of the 2005 U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club, served as an honorary starter at Hazeltine during Sunday’s practice round. Eaton will make his U.S. Senior Amateur debut on Aug. 24 at The Honors Course, in Oolteway, Tenn.
There are two sets of triplets competing this week. David and Maxwell Ford are identical twins whose sister, Abigail, does not play golf (into horses). Meanwhile, Ryan Hart, the son of two-time PGA Tour winner Dudley Hart, also has a twin sister named Abigail and another sister named Rachel. David Ford was a member of the victorious 2023 USA Walker Cup and World Amateur Teams.
Three of the four par-5 holes at Hazeltine National G.C. are 600-plus yards, including the third, which measured 642 yards in stroke play.
By all accounts, the new exemption categories set forth by the USGA that awarded spots to champions from elite amateur competitions and state/AGA winners did their part to strengthen the U.S. Amateur field. The average World Amateur Golf Ranking® for this year’s championship was 1447 compared to 1895 for the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club.
Davey Jude, of Kermit, W.Va., withdrew after the first round for an undisclosed reason.
View results for U.S. Amateur