Mason Howell has one year left of high school, but he will be able to tell his classmates he played in the U.S. Open before he walks at graduation.
The 17-year-old Georgia high school junior qualified for the 2025 U.S. Open at Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta on Monday after shooting an impressive 18-under-par through two rounds.
He is also one of the highest-ranked junior golfers in the country, coming in at No. 8 on the American Junior Golf Association list. However, his feat was remarkable considering he was the 496th-ranked amateur going into Monday's qualifier.
"That was one of the greatest moments of my life," Howell said after his two rounds.
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"Golf's Longest Day" is what the amateur qualifier is called, as golfers must play two full rounds to determine who will participate in the 125th edition of the major tournament, which will be held at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania this year.
It was certainly a grueling day, but Howell breezed through his 36 holes without putting a bogey on the scorecard, shooting 63 in both of his rounds to earn his spot in the U.S. Open field.
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Howell finished tied for first with Jackson Buchanan, a 22-year-old University of Illinois golfer, who also qualified for the tournament.
But there weren't just amateurs in the qualifying field. The 2007 Masters winner, Zach Johnson, was among PGA Tour veterans trying to get into the field as well. Only the top-five finishers on the leaderboard can get into Oakmont, and Howell now has tons of momentum heading into the tournament next week.
Howell hails from Thomasville, Georgia, where he stars for the Brookwood High School boy's golf team, which won the program's fourth state title in the last five years last month. Despite still having one more year of school left before graduation, he has already committed to remain in-state for the next chapter of his golf career and play for the Georgia Bulldogs.
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