Brandon Wu came over for a golfing road trip to match any summer, but the 22-year-old is going to take in playing the Open at Royal Portrush as well after coming through Final Qualifying this week.
The young American, who currently lies sixth in the World Amateur rankings, first came to the attention of golf observers on this side of the Atlantic by playing all four rounds at the US Open at Pebble Beach, being paired in the final round with Dustin Johnson, and eventually finishing 35th only just being edged for low amateur honours by Norway’s Victor Hovland.
Wu also featured on TV coverage after playing as he had missed his graduation from the prestigious Stanford University because it clashed with taking part in the US Open. Staff and fellow students at the University held a surprise ceremony after he stepped off the 18th at Pebble Beach to present him with his degree.
But having been bitten by the bug of playing in one major, Brandon decided he’d like a second shot and found the only way he had to get into the Open was to enter the Final Qualifying event at Fairmont St Andrews, where 72 players were going for just three places.
However he left himself plenty of room for error with a six-under 64 on the composite course at Fairmont and finished three shots ahead of Connor Syme with the first of the three qualifying places after a second round 67.
“The whole intention as to come over here and try to qualify for Portrush, so I’ve been over for a week trying to get acclimated, as we say in the US,” he said.
“I have a great friend in Simon Holt, who runs a golf tours business here and who I met three years ago when I was part of a team from Stanford that came over for a trip, when we played ten golf courses in ten days.
“Simon was our tour guide on that trip and I got to know him better over the years. He was good enough to let me stay with him and get a few places for me to play to get ready, so I played Lundin Links right off the plane last Friday, played the Old Course and then had the whole Muirfield experience playing foursomes, and then North Berwick on Sunday.”
Fully prepared from those classics, Wu was able to deal with the tricky winds on the cliff-side qualifying course, but he knows to expect something different in the Open.
“I think it’ll been cool to see the differences between the two (US Open and Open) but I’ve been playing well for a while now so I’m just focusing on keeping it going,” he said. “I’ve never been to Northern Ireland but I imagine it’s not that different to Scotland.”
He would obviously be open to a practice round if possible with another Stanford old boy, Tiger Woods.
“We’ll have to see if the schedule fits…I’m joking, obviously that would be fantastic,” he said. “I’ve met Tiger a few times, he obviously also went to Stanford and played on the same team as our head coach Conrad Ray, so if he’s in the area he’ll often come by and say hi.”
Brandon was the lead player as Stanford won the NCAA Championship in June and was well schooled on what to expect in Scotland from two coaches in the University’s women’s team, Scot Anne Walker and the Dundee-born former Solheim Cup player, Kathryn Imrie.
“I know them pretty well, we had a great relationship with the women’s teams and coaches at Stanford and they are always talking about Scotland,” he said.
Having graduated, Brandon could have turned professional to play in the Open but he’s opted to stick around as an amateur for a date later in the year.
“I’m still going to wait for Walker Cup,” he said. “I found here than everyone loves to talk about it, which is great.
“To have a chance to play for my country at Hoylake would be really special. You go down in history for playing in it.
“Pro golf’s going to be around for a long, long time so the Walker Cup is a unique opportunity. If I am selected, most likely I’ll turn pro after that.”
