MALIBU, California – Three current or former Pepperdine men's golfers will tee off at the U.S. Open tomorrow, with rising senior
Joe Highsmith joining recent alums
Sahith Theegala and
Roy Cootes at one of professional golf's major events.
It will be only the second time that three Waves have teed it up at the same major. In 2010,
Jason Allred,
Jason Gore and
Andrew Putnam all played in the U.S. Open.
This year's U.S. Open is being played just down the coast at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego.
On Thursday, Theegala is on the very first group to tee off #1 at 6:45 a.m. Cootes starts on #10 at 8:57 a.m. and Highsmith begins at #10 at 12:41 p.m. For Friday's second round, Highsmith is at 6:56 a.m. on #1, Theegala is at 12:30 p.m. on #10 and Cootes is at 2:42 p.m. on #1.
Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Preparatory School) had a dream week not long ago, helping the Waves capture the NCAA title and then days later winning the U.S. Open qualifier in Richland, Wash. Highsmith went a perfect 3-0 in match play at the NCAA Championships. He received Golfweek All-American honorable mention status and made the All-WCC first team. He had a 70.76 stroke average this season (sixth in Pepperdine single-season history), with a team-high seven top-10 finishes and eight top-20 results. Eighteen of his 37 rounds were below-par. Highsmith won the Western Intercollegiate for his first college title. He ranks fourth all-time at Pepperdine in career scoring at 71.42.
"It means a lot," Highsmith told the Tacoma News Tribune. "Playing in my first major is going to be pretty unbelievable. Obviously it's been my lifelong dream to play golf professionally, so to get a little taste of it this week is going to be pretty special. It's really cool to see all of the hard work paying off, so I'm pretty pumped."
One more Wave will be on the course at the U.S. Open, as fellow senior
Joey Vrzich will be caddying for Highsmith. Vrzich won the 2020 California Amateur Championship at Torrey Pines.
Theegala (Chino Hills, Calif./Diamond Bar HS), a 2020 graduate, was the unanimous National Player of the Year in 2020 after winning the Haskins, Hogan and Nicklaus awards and ending the season as the nation's top-ranked player. He was a three-time All-American for the Waves and holds the school record with a 70.61 career scoring average. He's played a mix of PGA Tour and Korn Ferry events since turning pro last summer. He played in the 2017 U.S. Open while he was a member of the Waves.
Cootes (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS), a 2019 graduate, earned All-West Region and All-WCC first team honors in 2017. When he finished playing at Pepperdine, he ranked 11th on the all-time scoring list at 73.35 (he's now 15th). He actually caddied for Theegala at the 2017 U.S. Open.
Both Cootes and Theegala advanced to the U.S. Open by winning playoffs at their qualifiers.
