CHASKA, Minn. — Luis Masaveu may have to change his future plans.
The 21-year-old amateur from Spain planned to turn pro in October. However, on Friday he topped Brendan Valdes to advance to the 2024 U.S. Amateur semifinals, where he will face his good friend and fellow Spaniard Josele Ballester. A win would mean a chance at amateur lore: an opportunity to lift the Havemeyer Trophy on Sunday at Hazeltine National Golf Club as champion of the biggest amateur event in the world.
Forget Sunday. Just winning a semifinal match is more pressure than playing in the championship match. That’s because of what’s on the line.
The two players who win Saturday at Hazeltine will earn exemptions, one into the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont and a likely one into the 2025 Masters, provided they remain an amateur. It’s something all four semifinalists, no matter how much they are focused on winning this week, are thinking about in the back of their mind.
“If I win tomorrow, probably I won’t turn pro because obviously playing the Masters, it’s like different,” Masaveu said, “I mean, it’s a dream. You don’t know if you’re going to play there.”
U.S. Amateur: Photos from Hazeltine
The major exemptions are something on the mind of players all week long, but never more than Friday night into Saturday morning when the field is down to four.
Players have to sleep on the pressure of Saturday’s semifinals. Not only is there a chance for the biggest victory of their lives, but also a spot in two of golf’s biggest events at any level. Win on Saturday, and Sunday is a breeze.
Jose Luis Ballester plays his tee shot on the 16th hole during the quarterfinals of the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (Chris Keane/USGA)
Sure, the biggest match of the week remains, but the best rewards from playing in the championship are already secured.
“I played this year a major, and it was amazing, but you never know if you’re going to play the Masters again in your life,” Masaveu said. “It’s a moment that you have to take it.”
Some players, like Masaveu, aren’t afraid to talk about what could come. Others, like Noah Kent and Josele Ballester, two of the other semifinalists, are all business.
“No,” Kent, a rising sophomore at Iowa said when asked if he would think ahead overnight. “Sit back, play college football, just take my mind off of it.”
Added Ballester: “Not really. Again, tomorrow is a new day, new match. Hopefully I can pull out my best game. If I don’t, I’ll try to fight as hard as I can.”
Last year’s runner-up is proof just making the championship match is a life-changing experience.
Nick Dunlap, who won the U.S. Amateur last year, has since hoisted a trophy two times on the PGA Tour, including becoming the first amateur in 33 years to win on Tour. But Neal Shipley, the runner-up at Cherry Hills put his exemptions to good use, too.
He won low amateur at the Masters, playing in the final round with Tiger Woods, and at the U.S. Open, joining an exclusive list of golfers to win both in the same year.
For Masaveu, Kent, Ballester and Jackson Buchanan, the other semifinalist, Friday night and Saturday morning are bound to be filled with thoughts, from the swing to their matchup to all of the random thoughts that fill someone’s head when they’re trying to pass time.
But whether they admit it or not, there’s a lot on the line come Saturday, and for the two who make it to Sunday, the championship match is bound to be a breeze for their emotions with what they’ve secured for next year, regardless of result.
“I’m more of a chill player and chill thinker, and I try not to get ahead of myself,” Buchanan said. “Obviously the heart rate is up, but I’m not thinking too far ahead.”