Jimmy Ellis of Atlantic Beach, by his own account, is an unlikely U.S. Amateur medalist
Ellis posts 10 birdies at Chaska Town Course to come one shot away from the 18- and 36-hole U.S. Amateur records.
Garry Smits
Surrounded on all sides by NCAA champions, Walker Cup players from the U.S. and Europe, high school kids who have made cuts on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour and major championship low amateurs, 39-year-old Jimmy Ellis of Atlantic Beach blitzed all of them on Tuesday in the second round of U.S. Amateur stroke play.
Ellis, the reigning Florida Amateur champion whose college golf career peaked to no great degree at Ohio University, made 10 birdies and shot 61 at the Chaska Town Course to finish at 10-under-par 132 and a three-shot lead over Luis Masaveu of Spain at the time his round finished shortly before 3 p.m. (EDT).
Ellis's lead held up to a late sprint by Duke junior Ethan Evans, who shot 63 at Chaska to finish second at 9-under. Masavaeu, North Carolina junior David Ford (68 at Hazeltine) and Virginia senior Paul Chang (71 at Hazeltine) tied at 7-under.
As the stroke-play medalist, Ellis will be the top seed for match play but his opponent won't be known until a 14-for-11 playoff to complete the 64-player field is finished on Wednesday morning. The players will start at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).
Ellis acted like the most surprised person in Minnesota, at least since Gov. Tim Walz got a fateful phone call two weeks ago.
“It’s just blind squirrel, honestly,” the Atlantic Beach Country Club member told golfweek.com. “I literally made everything today. I bet if we play this tournament 100 times, there’s zero percent chance I would be the medalist.”
Jimmy Ellis nearly breaks Billy Horschel's U.S. Amateur record
Ellis birdied three of his last four holes on Monday at Hazeltine National to tie for 49th at 1-under, then climbed 48 rungs up the leaderboard in the second round, serving notice with birdies on his first two holes and three of his first five.
His only stumble was a bogey at No. 7. All Ellis did was birdie his next two holes, four of his next six and then, just to show off, birdied his last three holes. He played his last 22 holes at 13-under.
Ellis posted the second-lowest stroke-play qualifying score in the 124-year history of the U.S. Amateur. There are two connections between Ellis and the record-holder: Billy Horschel is a Ponte Vedra Beach resident and lives about a half-dozen miles from Ellis; and Horschel shot 60 at the same Chaska Town Course in the 2006 U.S. Amateur.
Ellis finished one shot off the 36-hole record of 131, set in 2017 by Hayden Wood at the Riviera Country Club and Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles. Ellis is tied with five other players for the second-lowest 36-hole score, with the last coming in 2020 by Wilson Furr at Bandon Dunes.
Ellis topped a field filled with college, amateur stars
And Ellis is doing this is a field that contains players such as 15-year-old Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach (the two play frequently at Atlantic Beach), Hogan Award winner Jackson Koivun, who led Auburn to the national championship, U.S. Junior Amateur winner Trevor Gutschewski, British Open low amateur Calum Scott, Western Amateur champion Ian Gilligan of the University of Florida, Canadian Amateur champion Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island and Florida State player Luke Clanton, who has finished among the top-10 in three PGA Tour events this season.
“Some of the names are so funny," he said of the field. "I just assumed it would be [Vanderbilt star and 2022 NCAA champion] Gordon Sargent ... all of the names you hear on TV. It’s funny to see my name. I might not even win my club championship.”
Who is Jimmy Ellis?
A Pennsylvania native, Ellis moved to Atlantic Beach 18 months ago. He owns the Marcellus Mineral Group based in Canonsburg, Pa., a company that assists landowners on how to sell mineral rights if oil or natural gas has been found on their property.
Ellis and his wife Erin have a 7-year-old son, Palmer, and a 4-year-old daughter, Lilah.
Ellis shot 64 in the final round at Quail Valley in Vero Beach on June 9 to win the Florida Amateur.
At the time he said, "the one advantage I have is I don't care that much."
Tyler Mawhinney stays on a roll
Ellis wasn’t the only First Coast success story in Minnesota. Mawhinney, the 16-year-old Fleming Island High junior who won the Canadian Amateur last week, had six birdies and shot 67 at the Chaska Town Course to finish at 2-under 142 and in a tie for 22nd.
Mawhinney, the Class 3A state individual champion, began his round at No. 10, birdied Nos. 12 and 13, and atoned for a bogey at the 17th hole with a birdie on No. 18.
He turned and birdied Nos. 3, 5 and 8, with only one more bogey.
Miles Russell misses cut
Russell was 8-over at one point during the second round at Hazeltine and made a strong run at the end, making birdie on four of five holes on his back nine. But he closed with a 71 and at 3-over 145, missed the playoff for the final match play spots by three shots.
University of North Florida senior Brett Schell, a Bartram Trail graduate, shot 76 at Hazeltine to finish at 5-over 147. Brody Stevenson, a Bartram Trail graduate and sophomore at Florida Gulf Coast, shot 79 at Chaska and ended 11-over and Andrew McLauchlan, a Providence graduate who is a redshirt sophomore at Florida State, also struggled with an 80 at Hazeltine and is 13-over.
How can I watch the U.S. Amateur on TV?
Coverage of the match-play rounds will on Peacock at 5-6 p.m. and Golf Channel from 6-8 p.m. from Wednesday-Friday.
Portions of the semifinals will be on Golf Channel Saturday from 3-6 p.m. and the championship match will be on Golf Channel from 2-5 p.m.