The Olympic Club’s Latest Underdog: Jimmy Abdo Shocks the U.S. Amateur
SAN FRANCISCO – The Olympic Club has earned its nickname “The Graveyard of Champions” for good reason.
It all started with Jack Fleck’s improbable 1955 U.S. Open win over Ben Hogan in an 18-hole playoff – after television had already declared Hogan the champion. Billy Casper followed in 1966, erasing Arnold Palmer’s seven-shot lead with nine holes left. Lee Janzen matched that comeback against Payne Stewart in 1998. Scott Simpson edged Tom Watson in 1987, and Yuka Saso crushed Lexi Thompson’s U.S. Women’s Open dreams by erasing a five-shot deficit in 2021.
This week at the 125th U.S. Amateur, there’s no Fleck, but there is an Abdo.
Jimmy Abdo, a 19-year-old from Edina, Minnesota, is a rising sophomore at Division-III Gustavus Adolphus – only because he sat in the transfer portal all summer with virtually no interest from D-I programs. He’s ranked No. 4,292 in the world amateur rankings with just four counting events, and he’s not shy about the chip on his shoulder.
“I love proving people wrong,” Abdo said. “I just have to keep telling myself that I belong.”
Abdo birdied three of his last six holes Tuesday on the adjacent Ocean Course just to get into a 20-for-17 playoff for match play. Two pars later, he advanced to the knockout stage, where he upset Logan Reilly, Auburn’s highly-touted incoming freshman, in Wednesday’s Round of 64.
Having rattled off four straight birdies, Abdo faced a 10-footer for par on the Lake Course’s difficult 18th hole. He stepped up and confidently rolled it in, punctuating his 1-up victory with a thunderous fist pump.
“That’s the kind of putt you dream of,” Abdo said. “The biggest moment of my golf career for sure.”
And it’s only getting bigger.
Abdo will face Houston grad Wolfgang Glawe in Thursday morning’s Round of 32. Glawe produced his own drama on the 18th, whiffing his first chip from the rough before regrouping to hole his next chip for par and a 1-up win over Ole Miss’ Tom Fischer.
Wednesday’s Match Play Highlights
John Daly II, son of the two-time major champ, tied 17 holes with Louisville’s Cooper Claycomb. Daly’s birdie on the par-4 11th was the only hole won by either player.
Medalist Preston Stout of Oklahoma State carded seven birdies in 15 holes to beat high-schooler Pennson Badgett, while world No. 1 Jackson Koivun didn’t make a birdie until the last hole of his 2-and-1 win over Illinois’ Ryan Voois.
Scotland’s Niall Shiels Donegan, an adopted Bay Area product, had perhaps the loudest gallery as members from both public Mill Valley and private Meadow Club crossed the Golden Gate Bridge to watch the North Carolina transfer drain an 8-footer at the last to defeat Florida’s Luke Poulter.
Two matches went extra holes, including Georgia commit Mason Howell’s bout with sixth-ranked amateur Tommy Morrison. Morrison led for 16 holes until Howell prevailed in 19 with a winning bogey on the par-4 first hole.
The day’s wildest comeback belonged to Texas Tech’s Tim Wiedemeyer, who found himself 5 down after seven holes against Princeton’s Reed Greyserman (younger brother of PGA Tour player Max Greyserman). Wiedemeyer won five of his last six holes to close out Greyserman on the par-5 17th.
But when it comes to underdog stories, there isn’t a longer shot left in this field than Abdo.
From D-III to the U.S. Amateur Spotlight
Never even the best player on his high school team, Abdo signed with Gustavus Adolphus and immediately made the program’s practice facility his second home. Unlike many D-III schools, the Gusties feature multiple hitting bays with TrackMans and other high-end amenities – perfect for the mustachioed range rat to develop quickly.
Abdo won his first college tournament in April – a victory that landed him in the world rankings – followed by a runner-up finish before being named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s rookie of the year.
With momentum building, Abdo tested the transfer portal. It wasn’t that he needed to leave Gustavus, but he’d always dreamed of playing D-I golf. Having qualified for his first U.S. Amateur this summer (in his first attempt, via a 4-for-2 playoff), Abdo thought he’d field at least a few offers.
Weeks went by, and to date, just one Big Ten program has shown marginal interest.
“After a couple of calls, I was told that there wasn’t enough time to make a decision,” Abdo explained. “I accepted that and used it as fuel to come out here and prove them wrong, and I think, so far, I’ve done that.”
Abdo birdied the treacherous first hole Wednesday – a converted par-5 playing as a 522-yard par-4 that yielded just three birdies in stroke play. He won the second hole too, taking a 2-up lead early. But Abdo knew Reilly was too talented not to respond.
The response came immediately. Reilly, whose father Terry is EVP at Wasserman, holed a 30-yard bunker shot to win the par-3 third and two holes later chipped in for birdie to flip the match to 1-up in his favor. Reilly led 2-up after 11 holes.
“I think a lot of people would’ve folded and gave up,” Abdo said, “but me and my caddie (childhood friend Evan Raiche) were like, we got to this point, there’s no point in backing down now… What kept me fighting is knowing that there’s not much pressure on the 61 seed. I knew I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I knew that if I just stayed aggressive and stayed with it – I’d been hitting the ball too good to not make something happen.”
Did he ever.
And he doesn’t plan on folding either, no matter who he’s matched up against.
“I’m not afraid of anybody,” Abdo replied when asked what he hopes people will learn about him this week.
“This is the best opportunity of my career to make myself stand out, and that’s the way I’m going to view everybody. Doesn’t matter if it’s the No. 1 player or like me, the No. 4,000 player; the better the player, the more focused I’m going to be, and I’m going to use that to my advantage because I know I can trust myself out there.”
“You don’t get chances like this to play against the best players in the world very often. This is probably going to be one of my few opportunities, and I just have to go out there and take care of it.”
On Olympic’s graveyard, Abdo’s proving ground.
