Why U.S. Amateur winner Josele Ballester had to borrow shorts for his final match

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A good-luck charm isn’t going to win you a tournament. It’s not going to sink a putt or find the fairway for you, but sometimes, it’ll get you in the right mindset … ready to play the best golf of your life.

U.S. Amateur winner Josele Ballester knows this, which is precisely why he needed to borrow close friend Luis Masaveu’s colorful shorts (after beating him in the semi-finals). Ballester, a Spaniard through and through, wanted to represent his country with confidence, donning a red and yellow get-up to win the U.S. Amateur, beat American Noah Kent and make a bit of history. And, yes—before you ask—the passed-around shorts were clean.

“[Luis] hadn’t used them that week, so they were clean. In Spain, our thing with the team is that when we compete in the championship match, we always wear red and yellow,” Ballester said on The Loop podcast. “I read many hate comments on my outfit, not going to lie, but it’s probably people that didn’t understand why I was doing it and for the people that I was doing it.

“Every time that I pull out that outfit, I’ve done great things. I won the European Amateur Championship with it, won the Spanish International Amateur with it, won two European Amateur Team Championships with that outfit. I knew that the crowd was going to be with Noah, but by me wearing that outfit, I knew that my people back in Spain were going to be with me.”

RELATED: Spain’s next star, Josele Ballester, overcomes partisan crowd on his birthday to make history by winning U.S. Amateur

Because of this monumental victory, Ballester has upcoming invites to Oakmont, Augusta National and Royal Portrush. He’s not yet sure if he’ll rock the red and yellow at the Home of the Masters, but he admitted that he’s already thinking about it.

If you want to hear more from Ballester on his outfit choices, golf with mentor Sergio Garcia and why Arizona State has become a Spanish golf outpost, make sure to listen to this week’s The Loop. We’re also not against you subscribing to the pod. C’mon. Live a little!

MORE: ‘Easy Power’: The fascinating superpower hiding in the U.S. Am champ’s golf swing

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com