Men's Golfer Jackson Thompson Eager For U.S. Amateur

OMAHA, Neb. – Jackson Thompson played in six tournaments for Creighton as a true freshman this spring, but his game and nerves will be tested like never before when he starts the 121^st U.S. Amateur on Monday in Pennsylvania.

The Dakota Dunes, S.D., native has already beaten long odds just to reach the pinnacle of amateur golf. A whopping 7,811 players– the most since 1999 – with handicaps of 2.4 or less attempted to qualify for the 2021 U.S. Amateur at 94 sites across North America. Thompson qualified on July 13^th when he shot rounds of 67 and 70 at Lochland Country Club in Hastings, Neb. After an agonizing wait of more than an hour for other competitors to finish, Thompson didn't secure his spot until he sank a pressure-packed putt to win a playoff to earn the second and final spot among the 48 entrants at that site.

"The last putt I had was six feet straight up the hill," said Thompson. "Usually it's kind of a knee-knocker but I put it right in the center so that always feels good for the confidence going forward."

Thompson has kept busy in the four weeks since qualifying, attempting to prepare for two challenging courses he's never played before. In addition to his regular practice routine, he and his caddy have reviewed the yardage book for both courses he'll play, he's watched videos showing the layout for each hole and Creighton head coach Judd Cornell has given him some advice.

"Oakmont is known as one of the toughest courses in the world," said Cornell in the middle of last week. "Yesterday we talked about him getting used to putting on those greens when he gets there. He's going to putt on the gym floor at his high school to get ready for it, because he's never seen greens with the firmness and speed that these are. You won't find anything faster than a basketball gym floor."

Thompson flew to Pennsylvania on Friday and played one practice round at both Oakmont and Longue Vue in preparation for Monday. Playing alongside John Kim and Nick Gabrelcik, he'll start on the No. 1 tee at Longue Vue at 1:15 p.m. Central on Monday, then start at 7:40 a.m. Central on Tuesday off the No. 10 tee at Oakmont with John Kim and Brad Reeves. The top 64 players after 36 holes of stroke play advance to Wednesday, where 18-hole rounds of head-to-head match play commences. The event concludes on Sunday with a 36-hole championship match, where he'll look to add his name alongside past champions such as Arnold Palmer (1954), Jack Nicklaus (1959, 1961), Phil Mickelson (1990), Justin Leonard (1992), Tiger Woods (1994, 1995, 1996) and Bryson DeChambeau (2015). Last year's champion was Tyler Strafaci, who defeated Charlie "Ollie" Osborne to win the prized Havemeyer Trophy.

Thompson said he's played practice rounds with and will be leaning on the advice of Kansas golfer Luke Kluver, who won the qualifier in Hastings to advance to his second consecutive U.S. Amateur. He's the older brother of Thompson's Creighton teammate, Jake Kluver. Cornell thinks Thompson is well-positioned to rise to the occasion.

"He's always prepared and works really hard," said Cornell. "He's a great putter and his golf IQ is really high when he's out there playing. An event like the U.S. Amateur tests all your skills mentally and physically. If he keeps the ball in play, he's going to have a good week."

Cornell would know. He played in the 2006 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine, competing alongside the likes of future PGA Tour regulars such as Webb Simpson, Billy Horschel, Anthony Kim and Rickie Fowler.

Three weeks after earning a spot in the field, Thompson said Tuesday he was still waiting for his accomplishment to sink in. "It didn't click right away, that's for sure, and it still hasn't. I'm sure it won't click until I get there and see the course, but it will be a lot of fun and I'm excited."

Not one to rest on his laurels, Thompson looks forward to using the big stage to prove he belongs and understands his achievement will give him long-term confidence, as well.

"It means a lot," noted Thompson. "It's more proving it to yourself and feeling that you can play with these guys. That's what I'm looking forward to doing at Oakmont."

Thompson didn't list a specific goal for his performance at the U.S. Amateur. "My only expectation is to stay within myself and take it one shot at a time. I know if I take it one shot at a time, that should put me in a good spot and then, if you get to match play anything can happen."

He added he'll supporting his school while on the course at Oakmont, wearing a Creighton shirt, using a Creighton bag with Creighton head covers and even golf balls adorned with the Bluejay logo.

The summer successes of Bluejay golfers past and present have filled leaderboards in tournaments statewide. In addition to Thompson's trip to the U.S. Amateur, Nate Vontz won the Nebraska Men's Play Championship, Vontz and Charlie Zielinski both finished top-10 at the Nebraska Amateur and incoming freshman Jake Boor was just runner-up at the Nebraska Jr. Amateur. It's got the third-year Bluejay coach fired up for the fall.

"This next year is really exciting," said Cornell. "I think we're going to be a really good team. It's going to be competitive with our top five. I think every week we're going to have one or two guys left home who could easily be playing in our top five, which is a good sign. I think we'll be competitive every tournament we play."

Thompson agreed with his coach. "We're obviously moving forward. A lot of us are starting to play really well and we've got a couple of good freshmen coming in. It's going to be really competitive for these top five spots, which is great. You always want competition. The last thing you want is to be comfortable with where we're at. It'll push us all spring and fall."

The USGA.org website will have live scoring throughout the event. The match play competition that starts Wednesday will be broadcast on NBC, Peacock, and Golf Channel. The champion will receive a gold medal, custody of the Havemeyer Trophy for one season, an exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Amateurs, an exemption into the 2022 U.S. Open, an exemption into the 2022 Open Championship and a likely invitation to the 2022 Masters Tournament.

Men's Golfer Jackson Thompson Eager For U.S. Amateur

Players Mentioned

Jake Boor

Jake Kluver

Jackson Thompson

Nate Vontz

Charlie Zielinski

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