Jaden Soong, 13-year-old golfer, makes the final round of qualifying for the U.S. Open… could become the youngest golfer to ever play at this major championship
- Soong, a seventh grader, is already the youngest to ever reach final qualifying
- He would be the youngest person to ever qualify for the U.S. Open if he makes it
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The parents of Jaden Soong will have to call their son’s middle school with an abnormal reason for his absence: the 13-year-old will be too busy qualifying for the U.S. Open to attend.
Soong has the potential to be the youngest golfer to ever play at a U.S. Open if he’s able to finish well enough in the 36-hole final round of qualifying on Monday at Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles.
The current record is held by Andy Zhang, who was 14 when he played in the 2012 U.S. Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.
The Burbank, California native only stands at 5-foot-2 and weights 115 pounds, but he can drive the ball up to 280 yards.
‘I’m expecting some people to be a little shocked and surprised,’ Soong told USA Today.
13-year-old seventh grader, Jaden Soong, is playing in the final round of U.S. Open qualifying
Soong drained a 12-foot putt in a playoff hole to reach this final stage of qualifying
Soong would become the youngest ever player to qualify for the U.S. Open
The seventh grader has already become the youngest player ever to advance to the final stage of qualifying for the third major tournament on the calendar.
During the first round of qualifying, the youngster drained a 12-foot putt in a playoff in order to reach this last round.
‘I love golf more than any other thing I can imagine,’ Soong recently told the Los Angeles Times.
The Southern California native is set to tee off at 11:55am Eastern on Monday with a shot at playing in the major that’s being hosted just half an hour away from him at the Los Angeles Country Club.
‘That definitely would be really cool and exciting,’ Soong told USA Today. ‘I’m not really putting too much of that into it, because I kind of want to go in there with no expectations.’
The 123rd U.S. Open tees off on June 15 with the final round coming on June 18.