Mason Howell is the latest U.S. Amateur Champion and what a winner he is.
There is something beautiful about amateur golf and therefore the stories that it has provided over time. Howell, a soon-to-be Georgia Bulldog, began his senior year of high school on Wednesday and did so as the top amateur player in the country. Imagine walking into science class with him.
Howell was able to emerge victorious at the Olympic Club and become the youngest U.S. Amateur winner in over 15 years. Consider that he is the third-youngest winner ever and that he surpassed Tiger Woods to become so. Mason was embracing the surreal nature of it all when I spoke to him a couple of days after his 7-and-6 win, you can watch our entire conversation below.
We all know that match can play can be a different animal when it comes to golf and that it takes someone with serious composure to win it, especially in a competition of this magnitude. In speaking with Howell it is clear that he holds an incredibly poised disposition, one that will serve him well at the collegiate level once he gets to Athens next year (a hard thing for me to admit as a Florida Gator).
Mason hails from Georgia as noted and referenced fellow Georgia boy Harris English as a mentor of his and shared that the two really came together at the U.S. Open at Oakmont where Howell was able to be a part of the field. English has been in the news as of late thanks to his automatic qualification for this year’s Ryder Cup team, but both Bulldogs (past and future) will be donning the red, white and blue soon enough as Howell will be an important part of the Walker Cup team.
Part of what I was interested in knowing about Howell was what part of his game he wants to work on the most. He is so young and it stands to reason that we will be seeing his name a lot in the coming years (again, Go Gators) and I think it will be interesting to look back to see how he refined different things.
When I asked him this Mason demonstrated the same proper stance that likely propelled him to the win last week in San Francisco. He noted that more than anything golf is a game about consistency and that he hopes to maintain that sort of common denominator throughout the proverbial bag.
He is very well suited for the next level and beyond. A huge congratulations to this year’s U.S. Amateur Champion!
