Osborne in chase again
When Ollie Osborne’s runner- up finish in last year’s U.S. Amateur earned him an exemption to the 2021 Masters, he knew he’d be participating in some of the most revered traditions in golf.
But it was his caddie and father, Steve, who caught onlookers’ attention during the beloved practice-round ritual of skipping balls over the pond on the par-3 16th hole. With Louis Oosthuizen and a small crowd looking on, Steve’s attempt skipped onto the green — one of many highlights of the duo’s week at Augusta.
“Having my dad on the bag was really special,” Osborne said. “And we got to experience that whole thing together.”
Osborne’s father is his caddie again for the U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakmont Country Club. Osborne, a senior at SMU, is currently tied with Xavier Marcoux of Canada through 11 holes of a round-of-64 match. After a nearly fourhour weather delay, the round was halted after 8 p.m. and is set to resume at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.
To advance to match play, Osborne shot a 3-over 73 at Longue Vue Club on Monday and a 1-under 69 at Oakmont, a round he finished Wednesday morning after weather delays Tuesday. At the conclusion of stroke play in his third U.S. Amateur, Osborne was sitting in a tie for 45th.
In the 2019 U.S. Amateur, Osborne was 10 over after stroke play and failed to qualify for match play. In the 2020 championship at Oregon’s Bandon Dunes, Osborne carded a 5-over 77 in his opening round, which he followed up with a blistering 7-under 64 to finish stroke play tied for 23rd. From there, he made it to the final match but was edged by Tyler Strafaci, who has since turned pro. By the end of the tournament, Osborne had played in six consecutive matches.
“It kind of became a blur after how many matches I went through,” Osborne said. “I was just kind of feeling good in the moment and having a good time with my dad on the bag, and it just kind of kept coming.”
It’s one of many reasons Osborne elects to bring his father as his caddie. Osborne’s laid-back approach on the course means he prefers the comfort of their conversations over the insider knowledge of a local caddie. With that in mind, the only decision Osborne has to make is between his father and his brother, who typically share the responsibility. His father was on the bag at the Masters, while his brother, Stephen, caddied for him at the U.S. Open.
This time, the decision was made for Osborne; he said Stephen, who turned pro in 2019 after three years at Nevada, is playing in a tournament this week. So, Osborne’s third U.S. Amateur also marked his father’s third as his caddie.
It’s one of multiple similarities from last year, and Osborne seems to have an affinity for his routines. During the 2020 U.S. Amateur, Osborne drew attention when he ate the same brownie with ice cream every night — a habit that prompted his home course of Montreux Golf & Country Club in Reno, Nev., to name a brownie after him: the Brownie Ollie Mode. Then, during Wednesday’s round, Osborne wore the same shirt he wore during the final match of last year’s U.S. Amateur, which he knew people thought was a superstitious choice.
“Honestly I just like the shirt and it just happened to go with the shorts,” he said with a laugh.
While Osborne says he isn’t superstitious, he also admits he likes the continuity. He has eaten the same two snacks — beef jerky and Ritz peanut butter crackers — on the course for years. With any luck, something else will be familiar about this week: advancing to Sunday’s final match.
“I think once I get into match play, I can kind of just let it happen again,” he said. “Of course I want to do better than last year, but there’s not much improvement [to be made]. We’ll try to do the same thing or better for sure.”
Since the 2020 U.S. Amateur, Osborne has played in two majors with many of the best golfers in the world. Despite missing the cut at the Masters, Osborne finished as the low amateur, posting two 4-over 76 rounds. Two months later, he fired off a 1-over 72 at Torrey Pines for his best career round in a major but missed the cut when he was 6 over after two days.
In the U.S. Open, Osborne averaged 322 yards off the tee, which placed him No. 14 out of 156 in that metric. It’s a strength that translates well to Oakmont. In his strokeplay round, Osborne birdied the 4th hole, a 607-yard par 5, as well as two long par 4s, No. 1 and 15.
In match play, he went up by as many as two holes and, through 11, hasn’t trailed Marcoux. Osborne said pausing the round overnight can be “awkward” but that he hopes he’ll start the morning on a better note. As he attempts to advance to Thursday afternoon’s round of 32, he’ll have experience to lean on. From there, it’s one match at a time, with the eventual goal of making it back to Sunday.
“It definitely gives you confidence that you’ve done it once before,” Osborne said.” So why not do it twice?”