AUGUSTA, Ga. — On the 12th hole during Thursday’s opening round at the Masters, Jose Luis Ballester made a birdie 2.
And on the next hole he went No. 1. In a tributary to Rae’s Creek, Augusta National’s most famous body of water.
Ballester, the Arizona State golfer and reigning U.S. Amateur champ, teed off alongside Justin Thomas and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at Augusta National on Thursday. He was elated to have such a star-studded group.
“I talked to Scottie a little bit just to chat,” he said. “I’m like, okay, now that I have this VIP pass to play with these two, better get to know them a little bit.”
Ballester said he was pleased with his confidence. At his first major, the 2023 Open Championship, he was so nervous on the first tee that he could feel himself shaking. But this time around?
“Today I felt really comfortable,” he said.
That may have been an understatement.
As Ballester played the par-5 13th, he realized something: He had to go. And he’d forgotten to use the restrooms by the tee, so as he played the hole, discomfort set in.
“I’m like, I really need to pee,” Ballester said post-round. “Didn’t really know where to go.”
For better or worse, Thomas hit his approach shot into the bushes to the left of the 13th green. That presented the 21-year-old amateur with an opportunity.
“Since J.T. had an issue on the green, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to sneak here in the river and probably people won’t see me that much.’ And then they clapped for me.”
Don’t take this as a rebuke for using the great outdoors as a latrine. Ballester seized the moment, as golfers are wont to do. It’s just that most golfers aren’t playing with the World No. 1 on the most famous golf course in the world in the biggest tournament in the world and peeing in golf’s most famous creek. Augusta National doesn’t necessary love breaches of decorum, as Ballester’s coach found out earlier this week, when he was removed from the range for wearing shorts.
“I went out on the range without thinking, gave him a hug,” Thurmond told Golfweek. “After about one shot and one quick hello, they came out and said ‘I’m sorry, sir, you can’t be on the range with your shorts.’”
But Ballester stood his ground.
“Probably one of the claps that I really got today real loud, so that was funny,” he added. Was he worried about any sort of blowback? Spectators could see him, right?
“They saw me. They saw me,” he said. “It was not embarrassing at all for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again.”
If Ballester has regrets, they’re more likely around the way he played his opening five holes. He bogeyed No. 1. He bogeyed No. 3. And he tripled No. 5, slipping to five over before he settled in.
“I feel like you never really know how to prepare,” he said. “You can meditate, visualize, put yourself in hard situations, but at the end of the day you’ve got to figure it out, right? Especially being the first time here at Augusta with such a nice pairing like I had.
“I knew for sure I was going to have Scottie, and when I saw Tuesday I had JT, I was like, ‘oh my God, this is getting serious.'”
Warming up, Ballester said he tried to focus on getting loose and being himself.
“Listened to music, tried to stay focused. And again, as I said before, really happy with how I managed the nerves on the first tee box and how I played the first few holes. Although I made a couple mistakes and got really unlucky on 5, I think I kept doing that, and I was not intimidated at all by the pairing that I had.”
Nor is he intimidated by the potential ramifications of his live streaming. As for whether he’ll do it again? We have our doubts.
