Meet the U.S. Amateur’s Elite 8, which includes a 36-year-old bomber and 4 top players in the world

By

CHASKA, Minn. — A marathon day in the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National is complete, with the field being trimmed from 32 to eight following 36 holes of match play. It was a day that began with a bit of an upset after rising Illinois senior Jackson Buchanan defeated the top-ranked amateur in the world, Luke Clanton, who has had three top-10s on the PGA Tour this summer and came to Minnesota straight off a top-five in Greensboro.

A couple of mid-amateurs notably advanced to the Round of 16, including 36-year-old Christian Brand, who won the West Virginia Amateur by 21 shots earlier this summer. While Brand lost on in the afternoon, another mid-amateur, 36-year-old Bobby Massa, advanced to the quarterfinals after birdieing the 23rd hole in the darkness to defeat Canadian Ashton McCulloch. Other than Stewart Hagestad, who has twice made the quarterfinals, Massa is the only other mid-am to make it this far since 2014.

And with that, the four quarterfinal matches are set, which begin Friday at 2:30 p.m. local time. We’ve compiled the information you need to know on each of the eight players left at Hazeltine. Among them are four players ranked inside the top 25 in the world and two ranked outside the top 500.

Ethan Fang vs. Noah Kent

FangAge: 19From: Plano, TexasCollege: Oklahoma StateWorld Amateur Golf Ranking: 75

Fang has been fighting back all week. After opening with a six-over 78 at Hazeltine in the first round of stroke play, he needed a Tuesday 64 to make a 14-for-11 playoff to get into match play. Fang was the last player to advance out of the playoff, making him the 64 seed. In his first match against medalist mid-amateur Jimmy Ellis, Fang was 3-down after four holes. He recovered and birdied the 18th hole to win the match, 2 up, after which he inadvertently daggered his 39-year-old opponent, saying “I never played someone who was so old in a tournament before.” Fang played his freshman season at California but has transferred and will play for the Oklahoma St. in the fall. Should Fang prevail at Hazeltine, it would be historic—a 64-seed has never won a USGA championship.

Quotable: Do you feel more normal playing with guys your age? “Yeah, definitely does. It definitely does. That first match was definitely a first.”

2166941114

Ethan Fang tosses his ball to his caddie on the 18th hole during the Round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur.

David Berding

KentAge: 19From: Naples, Fla.College: IowaWAGR: 560

Similar to Fang, Kent had a big bounce back in stroke play, after opening with 77 at Hazeltine, he shot 64 at Chaska Town Course to advance to match play. In Thursday afternoon’s Round of 16, he defeated Garrett Engle, whose never-before-seen grip was the talk of the championship to that point. Kent’s stepfather is golf course architect Dana Fry, who Kent cites as a big mentor along with 1978 U.S. Am champion John Cook and 1993 champion John Harris.

Quotable: On the advice he’s received this week from Cook and Harris … “You’ve got to hit a good approaches on the par 3s, you make them [your opponent] go pin seek a little bit, don’t mess up on the par 5s and win it with your putter.”

Jacob Modleski vs. Jackson Buchanan

ModleskiAge: 19From: Noblesville, Ind.College: Notre DameWAGR: 84

This might sound familiar: Modleski also shot 64 at Chaska Town Course in the second round of stroke play to come back from an over-par round at Hazeltine to advance to match play. In Thursday morning’s Round of 32, Modleski defeated 6-foot-9 Tommy Morrison, who recently won the European Amateur. In the afternoon, Modleski beat another top contender, the World No. 14 Omar Morales. Modleski notably didn’t trail in either match on Thursday. Modleski had a strong freshman season with Fighting Irish, winning an individual event at Sea Island just a couple months after capturing the prestigious Jones Cup at the same course.

Quotable: There’s a lot of perks on the line during the next couple of days. Do you allow yourself to think about that? “I think there’s a good mix of both. I think visualization of winning is really important. Visualization of achieving whatever you want. But there’s a time for that, and I don’t think it’s necessarily on the course. When you’re on the course, it’s shot to shot. Then outside of that, yeah, obviously you’re wanting to see yourself win the trophy.”

BuchananAge: 22From: Dacula, Ga.College: IllinoisWAGR: 17

Buchanan is one of three players ranked inside the top 20 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking that has advanced to the quarterfinals at Hazeltine. He has undoubtedly had the most difficult path the quarters this week, first defeating former U.S. Junior champion Preston Summerhays in the Round of 64 before taking down the new World No. 1 Luke Clanton, who has three top-10s on the PGA Tour this summer. The All-American at Illinois finished runner-up at the 2023 NCAA individual championship and competed in the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, where he missed the cut.

Quotable: On how he was feeling heading into the week … “I was hitting a terrible at the start of the week. My practice rounds were atrocious. I just threw it all out the window and then relied on my ability. Sometimes I’m not very confident in parts of my game. So I just threw it out the window, started hitting it better and birdied my last two to get into match play.”

Jose Luis Ballester vs. Bobby Massa

BallesterAge: 21From: SpainCollege: Arizona StateWAGR: 10

The Spanish star is the highest ranked player remaining at Hazeltine. The rising senior at ASU won the 2023 European Amateur and 2020 Spanish Amateur. Both of his parents were Olympians, with his mother, Sonia Barrio, winning a gold medal in field hockey at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona and his father, Jose Luis Ballester, was a swimmer in the 1992 Games. Ballester beat the World No. 5 Ben James in the Round of 64 and on Thursday afternoon defeated mid-amateur Christian Brand, who notably won the West Virigina Amateur earlier this summer by a record 21 shots.

MassaAge: 36From: DallasCollege: Texas-ArlingtonWAGR: 2969

The 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur quarterfinalist is looking to become the first mid-amateur (25 years or older) to make the quarterfinals at the U.S. Am since Stewart Hagestad in 2022. Other than Hagestad, no mid-am has made it this far since Nathan Smith in 2014. Massa prevailed on late Thursday in a marathon match against Canadian Ashton McCluloch, with Massa making birdie on the fifth extra hole to win. Massa is a performance coach in Texas, where he works at a gym training golfers to hit it farther. Despite being the oldest player left in the field, he’s one of the longest and can register ball speeds close to 190 miles per hour. Massa’s older brother, Cody, won the inaugural Golf Digest Open in 2023.

Luis Masaveu vs. Brendan Valdes

MasaveuAge: 21From: Madrid, SpainCollege: N/AWAGR: 23

As the No. 3 seed, Masaveu is the highest-seeded player left at Hazeltine. The Spaniard defeated hometown favorite and Hazeltine caddie Gunnar Broin in the Round of 64. Earlier this summer, he played in the Open at Royal Troon after advancing through qualifying despite having to play with an old set of clubs and without a 3-wood after his bag was lost. He made the cut at Troon and finished 78th. Despite being 21-years-old, Masaveau does not play college golf, noting that the decision was made during COVID, when he felt it would be easier to stay and compete in his home country.

Quotable: Is there anything you learned at The Open that you’ve applied this week? “At The Open, it was a very hard course, so you had to miss in the good spots. It’s the same as this course—you miss in the wrong spots and you’re not going to make par. So I’m just trying to miss well.”

ValdesAge: 21From: Orlando, Fla.College: AuburnWAGR: 11

Valdes was a First Team All-American at Auburn in his junior year this past season as he helped the Tigers win the national title. Earlier this summer, Valdes qualified for the U.S. Open for the second straight year. He missed the cut at both LACC and Pinehurst. He recently represented the United States at the Palmer Cup in Ireland, which pits the best American college players against their international counterparts. In 2018, Valdes won the Boys 14 and 15 age division of the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National.

Quotable: Did you feel like your game was in a good spot heading into the week? “The one thing I’m pretty happy about is I feel like I have a one-way miss. It’s a lot better than seeing snap hooks. I’m not hitting many draws this week. You’re not going to see that. Definitely cut-biased right now, but it’s working.”

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com