The last man in the U.S. Open field dodged 1 difficult decision

PINEHURST, N.C. — Jackson Suber was the last man in the U.S. Open, but he’s on the first page of something that matters a little bit more: the massive, jumbotron-like leaderboards plastered all over Pinehurst No. 2.

The 24-year-old pro shot a one-under 69 on Thursday, meaning he’s just four shots off the lead with 54 holes remaining in the biggest golf tournament he’s ever played.

“It’s incredible,” Suber said Thursday, after his major debut. “That’s the only way I can really put it. To come out of that tunnel and see all the people, all the way up and down the fairway, it’s just really cool, especially at a golf course like this with the history it has.”

So how did we get here? For starters, it almost didn’t happen.

Huber’s pre-U.S. Open summer was a struggle. He entered qualifying season at the lowest point of his professional career, fresh off four straight missed cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour. Suber played in the Rockville, Md., final qualifier, but missed a 6-footer on the last hole that would have entered him into a playoff for the third and final U.S. Open spot. Instead, he was forced to play a different playoff for the title of “first alternate.” On the third hole of that playoff, Suber fell on the right side of a missed 6-footer, draining a 51-footer of his own to grab the first alternate slot.

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“I kind of thought I had lost it,” said Suber, who is from Tampa, Fla., and played collegiately at Mississippi. “It was a very rollercoaster week, just like this has been.”

When the field was finalized on Monday, Suber found out he’d be the first guy in the field in the event of a WD, but that’s still no guarantee of a slot in the national championship. He arrived at Pinehurst on Sunday and played nine holes, unsure of whether they would serve a purpose come Thursday morning.

But things soon started looking up. Word of Jon Rahm’s injured foot spread after a WD at the LIV Golf Houston event over the weekend. Suber even checked out Rahm’s tee time when it came out on Tuesday, perhaps wishful thinking that he would be in that spot.

So, he waited. But he couldn’t wait long. As someone with only Korn Ferry Tour status, starts are precious. And sitting around at Pinehurst for what might be a major championship tee time didn’t exactly help his bank account. Suber had a spot in the Kansas Wichita Open, which started Thursday, and he had a flight booked for Wednesday night. He just wasn’t sure if he’d be on it.

“It was just going to be a really tough decision to make, and there was going to be a conversation after that because the plan was to just play until Tuesday and then make a decision based on the facts we have,” Suber said. “If it was a better chance that I wasn’t going to be in, then I was going to go to Wichita.”

Fortunately, Suber never had to make the call. On the 8th hole on Tuesday, everything changed. He received a tip that Rahm was out. Minutes later, it was official.

“My phone started blowing up asking me if I was getting in,” he said. “That was just a really cool moment, especially to figure out I’m getting in the tournament out on the golf course and then be able to call my family and people the around me that help me out so much. It was a really special moment.”

What makes Suber’s spot in the tournament even more special is that he replaced Rahm, a two-time major champ and the winner of this tournament three years ago. Rahm was already placed in a featured group alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan Spieth, which meant Suber was primed for plenty of national TV exposure.

“Jordan — probably after Tiger — is the most popular golfer in the world. Like if you ask people who don’t play golf, that’s one name they know,” Suber said. “Hideki is a global superstar. It was really cool to play with them and be up close with them and talk to them.”

And beat them. Matsuyama three-putted the last and shot 72. Spieth also shot 72. Huber followed both of his front-nine bogeys with birdies, then added third birdie on no. 9 to turn in one under. Two more back-nine bogeys were bookended by birdies, and he closed with an easy two-putt par on the par-4 18th.

A 1-under 69 was in the books, and Suber was buzzing.

“I always believed I could do this,” he said. “You never know if you’re actually going to do it, but I feel like I always knew that it was in me. Didn’t know if it was going to happen for sure because nothing in life is for sure, but for sure I was going to give it my best chance and worked hard to be here and feel like I have a good earning of this and just need to keep working hard and staying humble.”