"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

June 7, 2005

After Luke List survived the cut and was second-low amateur at the Masters last April, who could have imagined that rare accomplishment would have been a detriment to his game?

For weeks after, no matter where he tried to practice from Chattanooga to Nashville, List, a sophomore sensation at Vanderbilt and former Baylor School stalwart, had to stop what he was doing so he could talk to friends and well wishers. All of them wanted to congratulate him on his Masters performance. It got to the point where List had to sequester himself just so he could work on his game in preparation for Vanderbilt’s appearance in the NCAA Championships.

Given the notoriety List earned after the Masters, imagine the fuss List’s fans will make if he makes the cut at the U.S. Open next week.

Don’t put it past him.

True enough, List didn’t parlay the Masters performance into even greater success during the rest of his college season. Then again, how could college golf—even the NCAA Tournament, where Vanderbilt failed to advance to the finals despite playing the regional at the Golf Club of Tennessee—have compared to what he had done in Augusta? Vanderbilt coach Press McPhaul said List did an admirable job of trying to prepare and bringing his “A” game to the rest of the Commodores’ matches, but who could blame him for looking back—and looking ahead?

List has the game to make the cut at the U.S. Open. Consider the venue. Pinehurst No. 2, the pride of legendary course architect Donald Ross, is known for its crowned greens (imagine a bowl placed upside down) that aren’t very receptive to approach shots. It takes a high ball flight to land soft and stay somewhere close to the hole on Pinehurst’s greens. List hits towering shots that tend to settle in when they land.

List has length, too. He led the Masters field in driving distance, once blasting a 365-yard drive on No. 14. He’s also got great touch and imagination around the greens and has excellent game management skills. List knows he can’t miss Pinehurst’s greens on the short side.

Best of all, this won’t be List’s first appearance on the grand stage. Two years ago, when at 18 years old he survived open qualifying to play in his first U.S. Open at Olympia Fields in Illinois, List was just a bit nervous.

“I don’t even remember my entire first hole,” List said.

Now, after that experience (he missed the cut with rounds of 75 and 74) and his fine showing in the Masters, during which he turned in two sub-par rounds, List has confidence. His Masters showing convinced him that he had the game to compete against the best players in the world

“It was fun to get comfortable playing with those guys, because that’s what I want to do for a living,” List said. “I was able to see their shots and know that I have the game to play with them. It gave me a lot of confidence to know that I can do it.

“You see those guys on TV and figure they’re doing something differently, but to walk out there and see that they’re just normal guys. I know I can definitely compete with them. I hope I’ll have many more experiences like that. I hope it will help me the rest of my college career and amateur career.”

No doubt it will. And it could start next week at Pinehurst.

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