JEFF JACOBS
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Theo Humphrey arrived on Long Island a week ago. He played nine holes most days. He played 18 once. The kid from Greenwich, the scholar-athlete from Vanderbilt wanted to stay fresh, yet still have plenty of time to get acclimated to the diabolical challenges of Shinnecock Hills.
He played with Jordan Spieth. No, Humphrey didn’t mention the bunker shot for the ages Spieth sank to win the 2017 Travelers, “but I probably should have, right?” He played with Graeme McDowell, Jim Furyk and Jimmy Walker. Four major winners.
“Pretty cool,” Humphrey said. “There was definitely a lot to learn from all of them. How to go about the course, how to handle all the outside stuff at the Open, how to handle professional life. I saw how different pros go about things differently. To see what works for you, those guys have that figured out. That was really interesting.”
Yet it wasn’t the big names that made the firstteam All-American in his final amateur appearance step back and go “Whoa! I’m here.” That moment arrived at 12:41 p.m. on Thursday at the tee box at No. 10 in his first U.S. Open appearance, his first appearance at a professional event.
“They announced me, all the cheers, people yelling my name,” Humphrey said. “It was something I hadn’t experienced.”
He birdied his first hole. “A lot of hometown fans cheering for me, which was awesome,” Humphrey said. “Unfortunately, in the mid-
dle of my round I got going the wrong way and was not able to stop the bleeding.”
Humphrey did not birdie another hole. He would bogey seven holes. He would double-bogey two more. He had a triple bogey on the fourth hole. Yes, he would bleed.
“It was a poor round, but I let it turn into a disaster,” Humphrey said. “I pride myself on being able to salvage a decent round when I don’t have my best stuff. Unfortunately, the course and the conditions magnified my struggles.”
Shinnecock Hills is a bear with claws. And with crosswinds kicking at 15 to 20 mph on Thursday, the result was the highest first-round U.S. Open scoring average (76.48) since 1986.
Humphrey’s 84, 14-overpar, left him 153rd of 156 golfers. Was it the wind, the course or Theo Humphrey?
“All of the above,” Humphrey said. “I was mentally exhausted after such a lousy round. I didn’t have a chance (at making the cut). I just knew I needed to come out the second day and give it my best and enjoy it.”
Paired with Englishman Paul Waring, Humphrey was back up at 5 o’clock for a 6:56 a.m. start. He would endure only three bogeys in the second round, none past the 12th hole. He birdied the par-4, 15th. Intensively competitive, high expectations, all of that, Humphrey would downplay his twoover 72 of Friday. Yet only 35 of those 156 had a better second round. Nobody bounced back any better than the newly minted 22year-old professional headed this week to the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada.
“Friday was a decent round of golf,” Humphrey said. “I think looks better than it was because I shot such an awful score the first
day. At least I was able to keep it together. It showed me that playing a pretty standard round of golf I can be out there and compete with the best players.
“I definitely can take confidence in that going forward and use it as motivation to get back here. I know I can give it a much better shot. It definitely was a big stage to start off on, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
Humphrey got to the Open in rather dramatic fashion during the 36-hole sectional qualifying in Summit, N.J., on June 4. Cameron Wilson, a mini-tour player from Rowayton who would make the Open cut on Friday, was co-medalist. Humphrey shot a 65 in the morning and was atop the leaderboard. He followed with a 72, badly missing a birdie putt inside 15 feet on the 36th hole.
“It was a long day, but that was the easy part,” Humphrey said. “The hard part was waiting around an hour and a half to see what my fate would be. The playoff felt like it lasted two seconds.”
He beat Mark Hoffman in sudden-death.
Although the NCAA season would go on for a few more weeks, Humphrey graduated from Vanderbilt on May 11. This is a guy who not only was SEC Player of the Year. With a 3.531 GPA in economics, he was SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
“I definitely put my best foot forward,” Humphrey said. “I never really loved school as much as golf, but I did my best.”
Give Theo a 4.0 for honesty.
Brandt Snedeker, Vanderbilt alum and a big supporter of the program, lives in Nashville. Humphrey spoke at the Open with Snedeker, who’ll play the Travelers Championship this week. Humphrey requested but did not receive a sponsor’s Travelers exemption. Hey, there’s always next year.
“It was an unbelievable four years at Vanderbilt,” he said. “I had amazing coaches and met some of my best friends there. It was a great place to prepare me to play professionally. Both of my coaches (Mark Limbaugh and Gator Todd) came up this week to watch. It’s not like it’s four years and you’re done. They still love me, support me and are active in my life.”
Humphrey, who attended Rye Country Day before Vanderbilt, was a 2018 semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award, given to the nation’s best collegiate golfer. He was a semifinalist at the 2017 U.S. Amateur. He leaves as the 10th-ranked amateur in the world. These are impressive yet logical steps for a guy who started hitting golf balls at 21⁄ and 2 broke 100 at age 7.
“I’ve been playing since I can remember,” Humphrey said.
There will be new memories as the Mackenzie Tour reaches Lethbridge, Alberta, this week. If he plays well enough in Canada, he can gain Web.com Tour status. If not, he’ll attend Q-School in the fall for Web.com status and continue to work toward the PGA Tour.
“I’m going to play as many events as I can,” said Humphrey, who’ll live at home in Greenwich through the late fall between events. “Hopefully, get a sponsor’s invite or two somewhere on the PGA Tour.
“I believe I’m there in terms that I’m able to do all the things the Tour pros are able to do. I know I have talent. That being said, I’m 22 and there are a lot of things I need to work on the next two years to get better and become a consistent competitor. I do believe if I get another chance at the big stage I can perform and have success.”
And with that, the kid from Greenwich returned with friends and family Saturday to the third round of the U.S. Open. A spectator itching to get back inside the ropes, itching for greatness.