Gordon Sargent (USA), who will participate in this year’s Masters as a specially invited player, predicted a blast.
U.S. golf media outlets such as the Golf Channel said that Sargent spewed long shots of superpower while playing practice rounds with Justin Thomas, Max Homar, Brox Koepka (above USA), and Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) at Augusta National Golf Club for two days. It was reported on the 6th (Korean time).
During practice with Thomas and Homa on Monday local time, he showed a driver tee shot that flew 25 yards more than Thomas at hole 11 (par 4), and hit a tee shot 40 yards ahead of Thomas and Homa on hole 17 (par 4). Dropped.
Homa’s caddy saw Sargent’s driver shot and screamed, “Wow, what’s that!”, the Golf Channel reported.
Sargent didn’t pull out a club longer than an 8-iron when he hit his second shot on a par 4, even though he held his 3-wood more often than a driver.
In the 13th hole (par 5), which drew attention as it increased to 545 yards, he hit a tee shot with a driver and then hit the ball on the green with a 6-iron from 200 yards away.
Sargent’s driving distance is known to easily exceed 340 yards.
His driver ball speed is as high as 200 miles per hour.
He is as fast as Bryson DeChambeau (USA), who conquered the PGA Tour with a long shot.
DeChambeau had an average driver ball speed of 193 mph in 2020, when he became the PGA Tour long hitter. During practice, I recorded up to 201 miles, but during the competition, 196 miles was the best.
If DeChambeau’s long hit came with a weight approaching 120kg, Sargent is 183cm tall and weighs only 80kg.
Sargent, a sophomore at Vanderbilt University in the U.S., was not invited to the Masters just because of his long hitting power, however.
He is currently number one in the amateur world rankings and number one in the US college rankings.
He has won four of his last 15 collegiate events and has never finished outside the top 7.
He averaged 68 rounds of 22 and even hit 62 once.
College golf experts unanimously say that he is the best college player since Jon Rahm.
The Masters rarely gives participation to players who do not meet the pre-determined qualifications, but this time, Sargent was specially invited.
This is because Sargent is the number one amateur in name and reality, but he has not won a tournament where he has the right to participate in the Masters.
The Masters qualifies for six amateur players, winners of major amateur competitions, including first and second place at the US Amateur Championship. 메이저놀이터
It is the first time in 23 years since Aaron Badley (Australia) in 2000 that an amateur player has received a special invitation to participate in the Masters.
Badley won the Australian Open as an amateur at the time and received a lot of attention.
As if Sargent was rumored after the practice round with Thomas and Homa, on the next day, Tuesday local time, McIlroy and Koepka, the longest hitters in the field, were called. The three played a nine-hole practice round.
“This is my chance to compete against the best players in the world,” Sargent said. “I want to know how I compare to them.”