In all-Spanaird U.S. Am semi, Jose Luis Ballester doesn't fit his country's fiery golf archetype

CHASKA, MINN. — What do Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia and Seve Ballesteros have in common? Aside from being Spanish major champions, each have that internal temperature turned just a little hotter than most—that exuberant competitive fire that, whether fair or not, has given fans a clear archetype for a Spanish golfer.

Jose Luis Ballester is from Spain, but he does not fit in that mold. The rising senior at Arizona State, who on Friday advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National with his 3-and-1 victory over mid-amateur Bobby Massa, more resembles the disposition of a So-Cal surfer. On Saturday at 1:15 p.m. local time, Ballester will play fellow Spaniard Luis Masaveu in the first all-Spanish semifinal in U.S. Amateur history, while the other semifinal features two Americans, Iowa standout Noah Kent and Illinois All-American Jackson Buchanan.

Ballester’s head coach at Arizona State, Matt Thurmond, notes that Ballester has a “relaxed and carefree attitude” that makes him a quiet leader off the course. “Everyone loves and appreciates Jose, and he’s never uptight or stressed. He’s open and comfortable with all and can fall asleep any time he wants,” Thurmond told Golf Digest via text.

Ballester, who is ranked No. 10 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, agrees that he’s always been that way, especially off the course, but he wants one thing to be clear: Though it may not look on the outside that he has the fire of a Rahm or Garcia, the drive to be great is there. “It's my passion, so I don't get lazy with it,” said Ballester, who won the 2023 European Amateur and has a chance to become the fifth four-time All-American in Arizona State men’s golf history.

Like Garcia, Ballester is from Castellón province on the Spanish coast, and it was there at age four that his parents introduced him to the game. From the beginning, Ballester knew sports would be a big part of his life. After all, both of his parents were Olympians, with his mother, Sonia Barrio, winning a gold medal in field hockey at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona and his father, Jose Luis, representing Spain as a swimmer in three Olympic Games. They instilled in their son a desire that, no matter what the outcome, to “fight as hard as you can for yourself.” Ballester’s sister, Julia, is also a talented golfer and currently plays at Kansas State.

For the past seven years, Ballester has worked on his swing with Garcia’s father, Victor, who also teaches Sergio. Ballester cherishes not only the swing instruction he’s received, but also Victor’s unwavering support. Though it was 2 a.m. in Spain when Ballester finished his quarterfinal match, “He just sent me a text that he's been following really closely all week, so it's really cool that you have a 74-year-old guy watching and rooting for you from a distance,” Ballester said.

Ballester also credits Victor for helping to calm him on the course this week in Minnesota, where fans are allowed to get up close to the players, even if Garcia is back home thousands of miles away. “Under pressure when I have all the people behind [me], I just think that it's him watching me hit balls in the range,” Ballester said. “Because personally I don't like when people stand behind me, but he has been doing that for seven years, so I got used to it.”

As a result of his close relationship with Victor, Ballester has gotten to know Sergio quite well in recent years, and Sergio has instilled in him a self-belief that has fueled his excellent play. “I've gotten really close to Sergio especially the last two years,” he said. “The thing that I got from him, especially this last year, is that I have to trust in myself a lot because I’m a really good player. Sometimes I feel like I underestimate myself in certain situations.”

With mentorship from the Garcias, Ballester is poised to follow another Spanish major champion from ASU, Jon Rahm, with whom Ballester has played numerous times. Should Ballester win his Saturday semifinal match, he would earn an invitation to the 2025 U.S. Open and a likely invite to the Masters.

To do that, however, Ballester will need to defeat good friend Masaveu, the 21-year-old from Madrid who is ranked No. 23 in WAGR. Unlike Ballester, Masaveu opted not to attend college in the United States, noting that the decision came during COVID, when it seemed a better option to stay home. Though Masaveu was 2-down through four holes in his quarterfinal match to Auburn star Brendan Valdes, he recovered with three birdies and an eagle on the back nine to secure a 3-and-2 victory.

“I don't really believe it right now,” said Masaveu, who joined Ballester in two victorious European Team Championships for Spain. “When I went to the golf course today, I was like, I'm playing the quarterfinals, I have a chance to win. To go to semifinals, I was not really believing it.”

In the first match out on Friday, Iowa rising sophomore Noah Kent got off to a much quicker start, birdieing his first four holes to grab an early 3-up lead on 64-seed Ethan Fang. The 19-year-old Kent shot five-under on the front side to take a commanding 3-up lead into the back, which he eventually converted into a 3-and-2 win.

“I like whenever the pressure gets really high,” said Kent, whose stepfather is Dana Fry, the golf architect who has helped design numerous courses including 2017 U.S. Open host Erin Hills. “Whenever my back gets put against the wall and you have to make birdies to win holes, I can make a lot of birdies as I showed today.”

Kent will play World. No. 17 Jackson Buchanan on Saturday after Buchanan defeated Notre Dame’s Jacob Modleski, 4-and-3. Buchanan, a rising senior at Illinois, was the runner-up at the 2023 NCAA Individual Championship and competed in the U.S. Open earlier this summer at Pinehurst. He has had arguably the most difficult road to the semifinals, defeating World No. 1 Luke Clanton and former U.S. Junior champion Preston Summerhays.

Buchanan credits Illinois head coach Mike Small for much of his improvement in college and says the two have been talking this week. “I have [talked to Small], but he says talk is cheap,” Buchanan said. “What are you going to say? Just keep the pedal down. He’s proud of me, but if I want to win, there’s still two huge matches I’ve got to play.”

The first of those two huge matches will begin for Buchanan at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday, with the winner advancing to Sunday’s 36-hole final that will determine the 124th U.S. Amateur champion.