Random Daggers

U.S. Amateur champ acknowledges this Olympian will still be the big man on campus at Arizona State

August 19, 2024
2167314975

David Berding

A year ago, Nick Dunlap, fresh off winning the U.S. Amateur, hopped on The Loop podcast and had no illusions that he would be the big man on campus when he returned to school for the fall. Of course, that school was Alabama, where the football players are treated like royalty. But maybe it will be different for Jose Luis Ballester?

After all, the Spaniard is a rising senior at Arizona State, which is not quite a football powerhouse. But it turns out the 22-year-old also knows his place despite winning one of golf's most storied tournaments.

Here was his funny exchange with a reporter during his winning press conference at Hazeltine on Sunday.

Q. Are you going straight from here back to school?

JOSE LUIS BALLESTER: Yeah, fortunately.

Q. That trophy is going to make you a pretty popular guy out there, no?

JOSE LUIS BALLESTER: Maybe, but we have Leon Marchand that just won four gold medals. So I'm just going to be like the second guy, I guess (laughter).

Not only does Ballester have to share the stage with an Olympian, but arguably the star of the entire Olympics in Paris?! That's tough.

Marchand, AKA "The Dolphin," had even the GOAT Michael Phelps in disbelief over his dominance in the pool in his home country. You know, this guy/legend:

2165066131

JACK GUEZ

And those four Olympic golds make the gold medal Jose got from the USGA look cute by comparison. Sorry, Jose.

But seriously, how about those Sun Devils, huh? Talk about having a loaded sports program. And Jose might not be the biggest man on campus this fall, but next spring he'll be headed to Augusta National to play in the Masters. On second thought, Jose, you're No. 1 in our book.