Michael

Thorbjornsen

Playing on a sponsor’s invite, the Stanford golfer is getting his second look at TPC River Highlands. He impressed with a fourth-place finish last year. Thorbjornsen currently sits at No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. “This place feels like home. I love the golf course. The hospitality here is amazing. Everyone is very nice, very welcoming.” The golfer with Boston roots is very comfortable in the region. “I’m a big fan of bentgrass and you got a lot of bentgrass over here, so that’s really nice, yeah.” The youngster is currently sitting around 500-1 in the outright betting market this week. He’s missed the cut in three starts since that impressive top 5 at last year’s Travelers, which includes missed cuts in Canada and LACC over the last two weeks.

The 20-year-old, making his tourney debut on a sponsor invite and just his third overall TOUR start, made a serious run at history on Sunday at TPC River Highlands. Attempting to become the first amateur winner on TOUR since 1991, he pulled within one of the lead after playing a six-hole stretch (6-11) in 6-under (E-P-B-B-B-B), but stalled out with back-to-back bogeys at 12 and 13 (watered third shot). The Stanford product, who recorded the best finish by an amateur in the event’s 71st playing, was asked post-round (link below) if this week’s finish changed his plans: “No, I’m still going to go back for my junior year. I’m just taking it one year at a time.” Later, he added, “I’m going to London for a British Open qualifier Tuesday.” For the week, he hung up rounds of 68-65-66-66, totaled one eagle and 20 birdies against six bogeys, and ranked 39th SG: Tee-to-Green (2.793), buoyed by a 6th SG: Off-the-Tee (4.569), and No. 1 SG: Putting (9.595), including a 2.770 SGP on Sunday. Thorbjornsen, a second-team All-American in his recently completed sophomore season, also made the cut at the 119th U.S. Open in 2019 at Pebble Beach as the youngest competitor in the field (17 years old), where he finished 79th (last), and adds to his burgeoning accomplishments with a coming-out party, top-5 finish this week in Connecticut. There were 28 first-timers at the Travelers this week and he was the only one to finish in the top 10.

The 20-year-old, in the field on a sponsor exemption, just completed his sophomore campaign at Stanford where he recorded two runners-up and was a second-team All-American. This is his third career TOUR start, joining a 79th- and last-place finish at the 119th U.S. Open in 2019 (Pebble Beach) as a 17-year-old (71-73-84-76), and a missed cut by three last week (6-over 77-69=146) at the 122nd U.S. Open in Brookline, Mass., just minutes from his home in Wellesley, Mass. After opening with 68-65 and today’s six-birdie, two-bogey effort, Thorbjornsen spoke with the media afterward (link below) about being in contention: “I think that one thing that might help is winning or coming in second or third, I’m not getting paid either way, so it’s just another tournament for me, it’s just one more round of golf...do the same thing I did today.” At the moment, he’s four swings shy of the leader on the course Xander Schauffele, ranks 2nd SG: Off-the-Tee (4.373) and 5th SG: Putting (6.847), and will have an outside shot at the title tomorrow, which would be the first amateur win on TOUR since Phil Mickelson (as the 54-hole leader by 2) at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open (TPC StarPass; AZ) while still in college at ASU.

Ouimet, who grew up across the street from TCC in Brookline, Mass., won the 1913 title in an 18-hole playoff over Englishmen Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, which is the subject of one of Thorbjorsen’s favorite movies, “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” “I’ve watched ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’ maybe eight times – one of my favorite movies,” said Thorbjorsen, who also is the defending Massachusetts Amateur champion, just like Ouimet in 2013. “I think it’s really cool, the position that I’m in and how it emulates Francis a little bit, but I mean, I’m a different person than him. I’m going to try to do the same thing that he did and just hope for the best.” Thorbjornsen just finished his sophomore year at Stanford, where he had two runner-up results this season and was T-5 in the NCAA Stockton Regional. He also was a first-team All-Pac 12 player and a second-team All-American. He advanced to the U.S. Open by finishing T-3 at the Purchase, N.Y., final qualifier. Thorbjornsen played in the 2018 U.S. Open where he finished 79th. See link below for a full transcript of Thorbjornsen’s comments.