U.S. Open 2025: Surprise contender James Nicholas once went viral for this miraculous water shot
James Nicholas plays a shot on the 12th hole during the first round of the 125th U.S. Open.
Warren Little
One of the best stories from Thursday at the U.S. Open was James Nicholas. The first-time qualifier from Scarsdale, N.Y. via Yale University (NBD) shot a one-under-par 69 at Oakmont to get on the first page of the leaderboard after Day 1 and he got a lot of airtime during USA's TV coverage. Actually, his entire family did.
As the broadcast pointed out, James' grandfather, Dr. James Nicholas, was a renowned orthopedic surgeon who is credited with saving Joe Namath's career. And young James' dad, Dr. Stephen Nicholas, is also a renowned orthopedic surgeon who I've credited with saving my golf career. Although, they didn't mention that during the coverage for some reason.
"The family's got all sorts of talents," NBC Sports' Dan Hicks said at one point. But let's stick with the 28-year-old golfer making his U.S. Open debut. And recall that he went viral a decade ago for this insane shot out of a water hazard during the 2015 New York State high school championship.
What a recovery. And it actually was the difference in him winning the state title by a shot.
That kind of talent won't come in handy this week with Oakmont not having any traditional water hazards, but that's a cool clip to have. And it's one you might see them show on TV, if James continues his strong play there.
