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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Gustavus Adolphus College men’s golf sophomore Jimmy Abdo competed in the United States Golf Association (USGA) 125th U.S. Amateur Championship in San Francisco, California this past week at the Olympic Club. The Gustie sophomore, who entered the tournament as the No. 4292 ranked amateur in the world, battled through early round stroke play, a playoff, and three rounds of match play against the best amateur golfers in the world to make an incredible Cinderella run to the quarterfinals that captured the support and admiration of the nation.
Abdo’s underdog tournament run almost never happened. The same day that the regional qualifier was taking place in Des Moines, Iowa at the Glen Oaks Country Club, he was competing in the Minnesota State Open. The Gustie sophomore tried to get an exemption to move qualifying sites but his request was denied, so early in the second round at the state open he reached out to his head coach at Gustavus, Scott Moe, to seek advice on what to do.
“His heart was set on trying for the U.S. Am, so I told him to leave the open and head to Des Moines for a practice round,” said Moe. “We both knew that’s where his head and heart were at. He got in a practice round and the rest is history.”
At the regional qualifier, Abdo played to win one of just four tickets to the amateur championship. He shot two under par in the opening round, tying him for third to qualify for a 4-for-2 playoff. Abdo then made par on both playoff holes, which was enough to make the cut and punch his ticket to San Francisco to compete in the championship.
The U.S. Amateur Championship opened with two rounds of stroke play. Abdo shot a 72 (+2) in the first round to tie for 43rd out of the field of 312 of the best amateur golfers in the world. In the second round, he shot a 71 (+1) for a two-round score of 143 (+3), tying him for 48th with 20 other competitors.
Abdo then went on to compete in a 20-for-17 playoff to make the cut to move into match play. He made the cut by shooting for par in both playoff rounds, securing his place as one of 64 golfers to compete in the head-to-head match play knockout rounds.
In the Round of 64 on Wednesday, August 13, Abdo took on Auburn University first year Logan Reilly; the No. 4 seed in match play. The Gustie sophomore won the first two holes, but Reilly battled back to go 2 up through the 11th. Trailing by two with just seven holes remaining, Abdo won the 12th to get within one and then took the 15th with a birdie to tie the match. On the 16th, he again won the hole with a birdie to take a 1 up lead with just two holes to go. Abdo birdied again on the 17th to keep his 1 up lead and, on the 18th, hit a clutch putt to secure the match play victory.
The win over Reilly in the Round of 64 vaulted Abdo into the national spotlight. NBC Sports published a feature story on him, the Minnesota Golf Association wrote about his success, and the social media audience started to gravitate to the improbable underdog story unfolding before their eyes.
Up next on Thursday, August 14, was the Round of 32 where Wolfgang Glawe, a University of Houston senior from St. Leon-Rot, Germany, awaited. Abdo won the opening hole but Glawe answered by taking the second. Both parred the third hole, but then Abdo won the fourth to go 1 up. The Gustie sophomore never looked back from there, holding a lead all the way through to the 15th hole where, leading 4 up, Abdo birdied to secure a 4 and 3 victory.
Abdo didn’t have much time to celebrate the win as the Round of 16 was set to tee off later that afternoon. This time the Gustie sophomore had Daniel Svärd, a two-time Big Ten Individual Champion for Northwestern University from Jarfalla, Sweden, standing in his way. Undaunted, Abdo not only went on to secure the biggest win of his amateur career, but he never trailed at any point in the match. Abdo took his first lead on the third hole after tying the first two. Svärd managed to tie the match at the seventh hole, but Abdo won three of the next four and either birdied or parred each of the 11 remaining holes. He also nearly had a hole-in-one on the 13th as his drive landed on the green and rolled within an inch of the cup. On the 18th hole, Abdo sunk a 30-foot birdie putt to secure the upset victory and punch his ticket to the quarterfinals.
Now just one of eight remaining golfers in the amateur championship, Abdo had gone from a relative unknown to the Cinderella story of the tournament getting praise from the entire golf world. The Minnesota Valley Country Club where Abdo is a member hosted watch parties and celebrated his success with each shot shown on the national broadcast. Local media such as Fox 9 and the Star Tribune covered his success for all of Minnesota to see. Social media views of his match-winning putt in the Round of 16 garnered hundreds of thousands of views. National media such as Golf Digest and Golfweek posted stories as the whole country was taking notice of the Gustavus sophomore from Edina.
The quarterfinals took place on Friday, August 15, where Abdo’s next opponent was Jackson Herrington, a sophomore at the University of Tennessee. Herrington won four and tied one of the first six holes to take a 3 up lead over Abdo, but the Gustie sophomore answered by winning three and tying two of the next six to cut Herrington’s lead down to just one hole through 12. However, Herrington went on to win three and tie one of the next four holes to clinch a 4 and 2 victory, bringing Abdo’s historic Cinderella run to a close.
Though his run had ended, Abdo’s legendary performance through the 125th U.S. Amateur Championship gained more media coverage from national outlets such as Golf.com and local stations like Fox 9. The sophomore NCAA Division III student-athlete from Gustavus Adolphus College had carved his place into golfing history and garnered fans throughout the world.
“Truly an unforgettable experience at the 125th U.S. Amateur,” Abdo posted on Instagram. “So thankful for all the support from family, friends, and teammates who made this run so special. Huge thank you to the USGA and the Olympic Club for putting on such an amazing event. Can’t wait to get after it again next year at Merion.”
