Jordan Spieth couldn’t have been more accommodating when he paid a visit to Cherry Hills Country Club in July of 2012.
He traveled to Denver to promote the 2012 U.S. Amateur, attending a press conference at the host club. Afterward, when I asked him to come out behind the 18th green for some photos and a little additional chit-chat, he quickly obliged.
There was just one stipulation. When I asked him to hold the Havemeyer Trophy, which is awarded to the U.S. Amateur champion, he said he wouldn’t touch it. He didn’t explain, so I was left to assume that he was superstitious about holding a trophy which he hadn’t yet won.
In any case, Spieth still gladly posed next to the trophy, which was placed on the ground behind the historic 18th green at Cherry Hills, not far from where Arnold Palmer’s visor landed after a victory toss following the 1960 U.S. Open.
While Spieth didn’t ever end up getting his hands on the Havemeyer Trophy, he’s certainly been handed plenty of other hardware recently. Just in his last 3 1/2 months, he’s won three times, including earlier this month in a three-hole playoff at the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship.
But Spieth certainly wasn’t the only competitor from that 2012 U.S. Amateur — hosted by Cherry Hills, with CommonGround serving as the companion course for the stroke-play portion of the event — who has hit it big in the years since.
The noteworthy part is how quickly some of these players have made the big-time. For instance, with his Valspar victory this month, Spieth became just the fourth player since 1940 to win twice on the PGA Tour before his 22nd birthday, joining Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Robert Gamez.
“I look back at the last couple of years and sometimes it’s hard to believe all this has happened,” Spieth said this week. “It certainly happened faster than I could have imagined, but I’m taking everything in stride and continuing to work hard. I have a lot of goals that I want to achieve and so far, I feel like I’m headed in the right direction.”
Three players in the 312-man field for the 2012 U.S. Amateur are currently in the top 100 in the World Golf Rankings: Spieth (sixth), Hideki Matsuyama (16th) and Justin Thomas (84th). (Spieth and Thomas are pictured together above at CommonGround in 2012.) Other 2012 U.S. Am competitors who have made some noise on the PGA Tour this season are Zac Blair (57th on the Tour money list) and Carlos Ortiz (68th). Still other current PGA Tour players who competed at Cherry Hills three years ago are Max Homa and Patrick Rodgers.
That U.S. Am field also featured the current No. 1-ranked amateur in the world (Oliver Schniederjans) and the No. 1-ranked college player (Cheng-Tsung Pan of Washington).
Here’s a rundown on some of the aforementioned players, noting what they’ve accomplished, and how they fared at that 2012 U.S. Amateur:
— Spieth. He already had an outstanding record before coming to Cherry Hills, having won two U.S. Junior Amateurs (2009 and ’11), leading Texas to an NCAA title as a freshman, and being the low amateur at the 2012 U.S. Open. But though he was arguably the favorite at Cherry Hills — and tied for seventh place in stroke play with rounds of 69-69 — Spieth (left) lost 1 up in the round of 64 of match play to 2012 NCAA champion Thomas Pieters.
After turning pro in the middle of his sophomore season at Texas, Spieth has won twice on the PGA Tour and also prevailed in the Australian Open and the Hero World Challenge, in addition to finishing second in the 2014 Masters. March 29 Update: In his last 10 events around the world, he has posted eight top-7 finishes.
— Matsuyama. Amazingly, given his golf resume, Matsuyama faltered badly at the 2012 U.S. Amateur. Considered one of the pre-tournament favorites, he shot 73-72–145 to finish 82nd in stroke play and didn’t even make the 64-man match play bracket.
But the 23-year-old from Japan has been formidable on the PGA Tour, winning the 2014 Memorial, along with the Dunlop Phoenix title in November. Overall, Matsuyama has collected six top-10s in his last 13 events worldwide.
— Thomas. Unlike many of the other players mentioned here, the former University of Alabama standout made a deep run in the 2012 U.S. Amateur. With rounds of 65-74–139, he placed 13th in stroke play, then advanced to the match play semifinals, where he lost to Michael Weaver. The 21-year-old Thomas, who hits it a long way despite weighing just 145 pounds, has made an impact in his first full season on the PGA Tour. In his last 10 events, he’s posted four top-10 finishes.
— Blair. The 24-year-old has competed more in Colorado than others on our list as his dad is two-time Colorado Open champion Jim Blair. Zac Blair himself scored low-amateur honors in the 2011 Colorado Open. In his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Blair has notched three top-12 finishes and has won $638,048. At the 2012 U.S. Amateur, Blair placed fifth in stroke play (65-71–136) then lost in the round of 64 to Weaver, who advanced to the finals.
— Ortiz. The 23-year-old native of Mexico has notched five top-21 finishes on the PGA Tour this season. (March 29 Update: That number went up to six at the Valero Texas Open.) At Cherry Hills in 2012, Ortiz placed 39th in stroke play (75-67–142), then lost in the round of 64 of match play to Adam Stephenson.
— Schniederjans. The 21-year-old senior at Georgia Tech initially ascended to the No. 1 spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings last June. At Cherry Hills, Schniederjans finished 25th in stroke play (74-67–141), then lost to Adam Schenk in a round-of-64 match.
— Pan. The 23-year-old senior at Washington is ranked No. 1 among college golfers by both Golfstat and Golfweek. He’s won three times in seven college tournaments this season. In the 2012 U.S. Am, he placed second in stroke play (69-65–134) and advanced to the quarterfinals of match play, where he lost to Brandon Hagy.
— Beau Hossler. Hossler, now 20, came to Cherry Hills as one of the biggest sensations as he had briefly held the lead during the second round of the 2012 U.S. Open. But Hossler faltered at the U.S. Amateur that year, missing a playoff for the final match-play berths by one stroke (72-72–144). Hossler, now a sophomore at Texas, has finished first, second and second in his last three college tournaments. He’s now No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
