Sep. 11—URBANA — Max Herendeen was one face in a crowd of hundreds in between the 16th green and 17th tee last month at Hazeltine National Golf Club, but the Illinois sophomore was able to share a quick moment with teammate Jackson Buchanan during the Round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur.
Buchanan had just fallen behind 16-year-old Floridian Tyler Mawhinney after a bogey on No. 16 to go one down with two holes to play. Far from the only challenging moment the Illinois senior faced in his U.S. Amateur run in the southwest Minneapolis suburb of Chaska, Minn. And another challenge he ultimately conquered.
“He’s walking through hundreds of people and he sees me and goes, ‘I’m fine. I’m totally fine,'” Herendeen said. “Finished birdie-birdie and wins that match. I was just so proud of him. I know he didn’t have some of his best stuff this summer. Obviously, he’s playing tour events and all that and missed a few cuts by a shot. I think that was kind of his coming out party — especially on TV. That was pretty cool to see.”
Buchanan’s come-from-behind effort against Mawhinney was par for the course in his U.S. Amateur run. He had to birdie his final two holes of stroke play to even qualify for match play where he drew arguably the most difficult path in the field. The Illinois senior rallied late to beat Arizona State’s Preston Summerhays in the Round of 64 and did the same thing against Florida State’s Luke Clanton in the Round of 32. Summerhays is ranked sixth in the world. Clanton is the world’s No. 1 amateur.
Buchanan ultimately bowed out in the U.S. Amateur semifinals, with Iowa’s Noah Kent winning 2-up. But it was the culmination of a strong summer that included qualifying for the U.S. Open and rising to No. 15 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings ahead of his final season at Illinois.
“Playing in the U.S. Open was pretty sick, and then capping off the summer as a semifinalist is almost even better,” Buchanan said. “Just a lot of experience, a lot of growth, learning about myself. Match play is just weird. It’s a different game. It’s 1v1. It’s tennis pretty much. You can shoot 5-under and lose and you can shoot 5-over and win. It’s a weird deal as we’ve seen in match play in nationals. It’s hard to judge your game based on match play, I think.”
Buchanan’s game has been solid enough this week to have No. 9 Illinois in contention at its fall tournament. The Illini erased most of Alabama’s 11-stroke lead after the first round of the Folds of Honor Collegiate in Grand Haven, Mich., in Tuesday’s second round. The Crimson Tide head into Wednesday’s final round up just one stroke with Illinois right behind in second place at 4-under 564 through 36 holes.
Buchanan has been a steady presence at the top of Illinois’ lineup with a 1-under 70 on Tuesday matching his first-round score. He’s tied for fifth alongside Illinois sophomore Herendeen, who shot a 4-under 67 on Tuesday. Illini freshman Trey Marrion is also tied for 10th after a 1-under 70 in the second round.
Buchanan leading the way was the preseason expectation. A scenario fueled by his selection as a preseason First Team All-American by both Golfweek and the Golf Channel.
“I wouldn’t say it means nothing to me, but if you can get as close to ‘it means nothing to me’ as you can get, it’s about that,” Buchanan said about his preseason honors, which also included being named to the watch list for the Fred Haskins Award. It’s essentially the Heisman Trophy of college golf.
“That’s all last year,” Buchanan continued about earning preseason recognition. “That’s all summer. That’s all in the past. It’s exciting. I know I’m good, but nobody really cares. I’ve just got to show up.
“There’s expectations, but I try to throw those out the window and play my game. I’m excited. The first tournament of the year the nerves are always high. It’s going to be fun. I’m confident in my game, so we’ll see how it goes.”
The improvement Mike Small saw in Buchanan — particularly during his trying, but rewarding, week in Minnesota — could bode well for the Dacula, Ga., native in his senior season. The Illinois coach said he heard from several people about how impressive Buchanan’s run was, but also how disappointing it must have been to fall just short of a U.S. Amateur title that would have opened the door to playing in every major except the PGA Championship with a win or the Masters and U.S. Open with a runner-up finish.
Small saw it differently.
“He got better that week,” the Illini coach said. “That’s what I like. I think only one match was pretty comfortable. The rest of them he had to come from behind. That’s what makes match play tough. He stayed steadfast and really closed and took it to another level mentally and emotionally and focus-wise the last few holes to win. That’s a huge thing to have. If he can learn to bring that mentality and focus earlier in the round — more consistently — the sky’s the limit.
“Stress puts you in the zone. It can really make you narrow your focus. I saw in the U.S. Am that’s what he did. For all those matches he won against the top players in the world, he just put it in overdrive the last few holes, which is impressive.”
