Ryan Ruffels is more than happy if he can keep following in Jason Day’s footsteps.
On the day after Day’s maiden Major triumph, Ruffels carded a 4-under 66 to share second place at the US Amateur Championship on the North Course at Olympia Fields.
While the Victoria Golf Club member is flying the Australian flag the highest in Chicago, Victoria’s Brett Coletta (T6) and WA’s Curtis Luck (T20) both secured sub-70 rounds to give Australia some strong footholds in the top 64.
Ruffels gave some great insight into how Day’s triumph at Whistling Straits instilled more than just national pride into the next wave of Australian golfing talent.
“He's great for Australian golf” said Ruffels, when asked if Day inspires him the most out Australia’s professional ranks.
“Adam Scott, also, but I think with Jason, he's a little bit younger, he's more relatable to guys my age.
It was great to see him win yesterday, and I guess it's a little bit of inspiration because he pretty much came from the same pathway as I did. He won the Australian Juniors coming up. I've been able to do that, and he's gone through the same system that I'm playing now. It would be cool to see if I could maybe continue on that pathway.”
Ruffel’s round didn’t come easy but he somehow managed to go bogey free for the day, despite battling through a poor warm-up and the infamous Olympia Fields rough that is not-so-affectionately called The Cabbage.
“I kind of kept the ball in the fairway, which is crucial, because that rough is starting to get really, really long, and there are bunkers you can't get to the green from.
“To be honest, I had one of the worst warm-ups I've ever had this morning. I was catching shots fat, I couldn't hit a draw. I just kind of didn't know what to expect today, and I got out there and I just started focusing less on golf swing and more on hitting golf shots and eased my way into the round.”
As long as they qualify, there is a tendency for participants to downplay the importance of the strokeplay rounds. No one remembers the medallist is even a common saying around the traps at match play events, however Ruffels isn’t allowing himself to relax despite his nice buffer inside the top-64.
“I've changed my mentality a little bit in these strokeplay to match play events. I used to always feel geez, I’ll just make the top 64 as it will restart from there.
"But it's hard when you're just trying to make the top 64. I feel like you've got to try and win the stroke play. If you can try and get yourself in contention in the stroke play, then a bad week is going to be 40th or 50th. But if you try and just middle of the field, try and get 30th, 40th, then a bad week is going to be outside that top 64.”
And if Ruffels is aiming for the Medal, the USGA’s statistics from Round 1 point in his favour.
With an average of 74.506 in round 1, the North Course played just over 1.2 shots harder than the South Course’s average of 73.295.
Ruffels is just a shot back of outright leader Matt NeSmith, who shot his 5-under 67 on the South Course. It’s certainly a stretch to place Ruffels in any sort of virtual lead, but a potentially easier Round 2 can only play into the Victorian’s hands and give him confidence for tomorrow.
“The South Course, I think it's completely different to the North. Not many drivers off the tee. There are a lot of 3-woods and irons off the tee. You've really got to think your way around it. But again, it's still a brutal course."
Australia’s next best placed golfers both enjoyed their days on the South Course, and also managed some fireworks with hole outs for eagles.
Victorian Brett Coletta also managed a bogey free round on his way to a 3-under 67. Coletta’s highlight was his 30m chip in for 2 on the par-4 11th after a monster drive on the 348 yard hole.
Curtis Luck’s eagle came from more than 100m out on the 374 yard 6th hole. It was a typically adventurous round for the Cottesloe Golf Club member, as five bogeys countered his eagle and four birdies on his way to a 1-under round of 69.
With a field of 312 competing for just 64 spots, making the match play is a feat in itself, and after Round 1 the current qualification mark sits at 1-over par.
Austin Bautista (+3, T116), Lucas Herbert (+4, T151), Troy Moses and Antonio Murdaca (T184, +5) are all within reach of an extended stay at Olympia Fields while Cameron Davis (+7, T248) will need something special in his final round to qualify.
South Australia’s Murdaca may have been the most colourful of the day, going par-free on the back nine with four birdies, four bogeys and an unfortunate 7 on the par-4 15th.
Importantly for Victoria’s Bautista and Herbert, their climb into the top 64 will seem a little less daunting with their second round to be played on the South Course.
At stake is a place at the US Masters and US Open for the two finalists, and an additional British Open start for the winner.
It’s an experience Murdaca earned earlier this year thanks to his win at the Asia-Pacific Amateur, as Oliver Goss did in 2014 after his finalist finish at the 2013 US Amateur.
The lure of Augusta seems to overshadow Augusta the two additional major starts, even when coupled with the prestige of winning America longest running golf championship. Ruffels says The Masters will be playing in the back of everyone’s minds of everyone this week.
“The US Amateur is always the biggest event because if you can make it to the final, they've got a big prize on the line
As much as everyone says they don't want to think about it, they're thinking about that. It would be cool to (make the final) and be able to play at Augusta and all that kind of stuff. So it is there, but you've got to focus each round at a time. I've prepared for this tournament for a long time now. I've known this is the one I wanted to win, and I kind of feel like I've done the steps that I need to play well at this stage.”
In a nutshell, the US Amateur is about potential leading to future expectation, something Jason Day could easily write a book about in his journey to his “inevitable” first major win.
On top of three majors in 2016, whoever wins the 2015 US Amateur will earn instant comparisons with past champions Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
Potential and expectation is a double edged sword, but anyone following the Jason Day pathway should be able to handle it.