:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55965627/Jordan_Less_NIU.0.jpg)
Look back through golf history and you’ll find that playing and winning the US Amateur puts you in some elite company in the golfing universe. Names like Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Justin Leonard, and Tiger Woods all put their name in the record books by winning the US Am. In the case of Woods, three straight times.
This August when the US Amateur Championship tees off at Riviera there will be a Mid-American Conference player competing to bring some MACtion to the PGA as Northern Illinois Huskies men’s golfer Jordan Less will compete for the title after qualifying at Weibring Golf Club earlier this month.
Per NIU’s release...
Jordan Less of the Northern Illinois University men’s golf team qualified for the 2017 U.S. Amateur in a playoff after carding a two-round total of three-under par 139 in the qualifying event at Weibring Golf Club in Normal, Ill.
Less opened play with a three-under par round of 68 in his morning 18. The Elmhurst, Ill., native carded six birdies in his first round, including four in the first six holes. Less posted another five birdies in his afternoon 18 en route to an even-par round of 71.
Although Less had finished his 36 holes on Tuesday, the full field was unable to complete the two rounds, meaning play was suspended until Wednesday (July 12) morning. Following the completion of the second round, four players were tied at 139, resulting in a playoff to determine the three U.S. Amateur qualifiers.
The Huskie sophomore-to-be birdied the first playoff hole, the par four, 358-yard 10th hole, to clinch his spot in the U.S. Amateur.
The 2017 U.S. Amateur Championship will take place Aug. 14-20 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif. The field will play two rounds of stroke play after which the top 64 players will compete in six rounds of single-elimination match play to determine a champion.
I’ve played enough golf in my life to know how much of an accomplishment it is to go -3 over two rounds. Here’s hoping that when MACtion hits the legendary Riviera, Less goes low.