Former Gopher Pedersen Among Six to Advance From Final Qualifying For U.S. Amateur

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  MORTON, Minn. – When it comes to playing in one of the biggest amateur championships in the world, former University of Minnesota golfer Jacob Pedersen has found a simple mantra to playing at the U.S. Amateur.

There’s no such thing as perfect golf.

“I realized that during my first two. You get so caught up that you’re playing in the U.S. Amateur, and you think that you have to be perfect, but that’s impossible,” said Pedersen, who qualified for the championship in 2021 and 2022. “If you hit fairways and greens, you don’t have to do anything too special.”

Pedersen fired a 1-under 71 at Dacotah Ridge Golf Club Wednesday before making birdie on his first playoff hole to claim of six qualifying spots to the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club next month for his third appearance at the championship over the past four seasons.

“It’s nice to get back, especially when it’s 10 minutes from my house,” Pedersen said after qualifying Wednesday. “It’s going to be a blast—I have a bunch of buddies who’ll be there, and I have a lot of good memories out there.”

Pedersen qualified along with University of Michigan’s Yuqi Liu, who fired a 4-under 68 to earn medalist honors, as well as Texas Tech University’s Price Hill, who posted 2-under 70 to finish tied for second with the University of Missouri’s Brock Snyder.

South Dakota State University golfer Luke Honner and Vietnam’s Hung Le claimed the final two qualifying spots after advancing from the 4-for-3 playoff.

Following back-to-back bogeys to begin his round Wednesday, Pedersen rolled in a 25-footer for birdie at the third and a 15-footer for birdie at the fifth before sinking his eagle chance at the par-5 sixth to reach 2-under for his round.

He’d fall back to even with bogeys at the ninth and 10th holes, but got help from his putter again at the 11th by converting his birdie opportunity from 25 feet.

The former Minnetonka High School standout would reach 3-under with birdies at the 13th and 14th, but finished his day with bogeys at the 17th and 18th before making a birdie on the first playoff hole to punch his ticket to Hazeltine.

“The course was playing hard today,” Pedersen said. “A little bit of everything—bad start, not a great finish, but a lot of good in the middle of that.

“I stayed really positive during the round. The wind was really blowing, and it was hard to get at a lot of pins. I just made a lot of good putts.”

Liu cruised during his first 13 holes Wednesday, carding five birdies before he was slowed by a bogey at the par-4 14th.

Consecutive pars to finish his round put the Michigan senior on top of the leaderboard by two shots, earning a spot at his second consecutive U.S. Amateur.

“It was a really good day for me. It was a hard golf course, so I was proud of myself to shoot 4-under,” said Liu, who entered the week coming off a top-10 finish at the Northern Amateur in Indiana Friday. “With the blowing wind you have to be more creative with your shots, so my shot-shaping was good today and I putted well.

“I’m playing well and I played a bunch of events this summer. The main thing for me, I kept telling myself that playing in the U.S. Amateur doesn’t define me as a player, so I came out and tried not to be nervous. I’m excited—it shows I can compete at the highest level.”

Playing his first 13 holes in 4-under Wednesday, Hill, a sophomore for the Red Raiders, had little trouble before he was tripped up with a bogey at the 14th.

He bounced back with a birdie at the 15th, but finished the day at 2-under following a double-bogey at the 16th.

“I knew it was going to be a tough day with the wind, so I tried to not make any big mistakes early,” said Hill, who qualified for his first USGA championship Wednesday. “I got hot on the front nine and was able to cruise in a little bit after that. I had the putter going and kept it in play where I didn’t have to think too hard about getting into some of these greens with where some of the pins were.

“On 17 and 18 was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been because [the U.S. Amateur] is what you work for. I won the Texas Junior Amateur last year and I was more nervous today. For myself, it gives me some confidence knowing I can get into these things and compete with the best in the world. Hopefully make match play and keep my confidence up going into the fall season.”

A sophomore from Ames, Iowa, Snyder started hot with a birdie at the first, but would card two bogeys over his next 11 holes.

Snyder found his stride by converting three birdie chances over his final six holes to finish tied for second at 2-under 70.

Even through 17 holes Wednesday, Honner converted his birdie opportunity on the final hole to force a four-way playoff before claiming his spot at the national championship next month.

Helped by a pair of eagles during his round Wednesday, Le played his back nine in 2-under to post a 1-under 71 to join Pederson and Honner in the playoff.

University of North Dakota golfer Kagan Kollar, from Maple Grove, Minn., finished as first alternate, while Aidan Gutierrez, of Valparaiso, Ind., claimed second alternate honors.