SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Ryder Cowan has a charming smile, and he got to show it off a lot Friday at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. You would be smiling, too, if you were a 21-year-old amateur with your name on the leaderboard at the U.S. Open.
A few weeks removed from finishing his junior year at the University of Oklahoma, Cowan followed-up an opening-round 68 on Thursday with a second-round 72 to comfortably sit inside the top 20 as the afternoon sun started turning things a bit more crispy on the eastern end of Long Island.
Cowan was relaxed enough after his round to joke: “Am I going to make the cut?” knowing full well that the weekend awaits.
“Playing in my first major, this is something I always wanted to do since I was a child,” said Cowan, who grew up on a golf course in Edmond, Okla., the son of two parents who also played college golf. “That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to play golf, I wanted to play against the best. So to be here and to do that and to compete at the level that I'm competing at right now, I think is very special.”
Cowan is one of 20 amateurs in the field at Shinnecock, which matches the record for the most to play in the U.S. Open in the last half century (there were 20 at Shinnecock in 2018 as well). He’s no burly boy, standing a lean 5-foot-11, but he can move it, pumping 300-yard drives on the practice range with ball speeds clocking in at north of 175 miles per hour. He was talented before arriving at Oklahoma, but his game has been well sharpened in the incubator of college golf.
Indeed, that so many amateurs played their way into this year’s national championship lends credence to the notion that college/amateur golfers are as seasoned and sharp as they’ve ever been, honing their skills through practice and play to be ready to contend when teeing it up in pro events. It’s not just the competition Cowan plays against but the people he calls his friends. This week, for instance, he’s staying in a house with former OU alum Chris Gotterup and PGA Tour winner Jacob Bridgeman. And in February he signed with an agent to help him manage his potenial NIL deals and get him ready off-the-course for an eventual pro career.
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For Cowan, currently 24th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, the last two months of the college season have seen him come into his own. A win and a T-3 in March were followed by a runner-up showing at the SEC Championship behind another amateur wonder, Auburn’s Jackson Koivun. He then finished T-4 at NCAA Regionals before earning second-team All-American honors
Not surprisingly, then, he kept the momentum going, advancing through Final Qualifying at BallenIsles in Florida to earn a spot in his first major.
Rather than have the moment overwhelm him, Cowan has thrived under the spotlight.
“I've been swinging it well for like two months,” he said. “I've been hitting it good. I have been playing good, and I had no worry in the world that I couldn't come out here and compete.”
Even so, there was a moment on Thursday afternoon when Cowan was alone atop the leaderboard at three under, something that had to be surreal no matter how much he has pictured himself playing at this level.
You could make the argument that Cowan benefitted from the fact that after wrapping up his first round at sunset he had to turn around quickly on Friday morning. He didn’t have much time to hang with the 20 friends and family staying in the area or begin to ponder the circumstance he found himself in through 18 holes. Instead, it was off to bed around 10:30 p.m. with a 4 a.m. wake-up call on Friday that hit hard.
“That’s tough for me, too," he said. "I'm not an early riser. I need my sleep.”
But then he was off, back inside the ropes where his game and confidence thrive. He has worked hard in recent years to try to enjoy himself more on the course, not let the pressure he puts on himself get in his way. And it’s paying off.
“I've had to learn that throughout the years that I need to enjoy it and appreciate what I’m doing.”
Warren Little
No doubt he’ll be enjoying himself this weekend at Shinnecock Hills. His competiveness will have him gunning for low amateur honors. And a good showing might lock up a spot on the U.S. Walker Cup team playing later this year at Lahinch.
Whether all this will cross his mind or not, is unclear. He says he's just going to go out and do his best, let the cheers of his family and friends fuel him. As for making a name for himself among casual golf fans, well it's not a concern just yet.
"I just want to have fun," Cowan said. "If I'm doing that, that's all I can ask."
And no doubt, that will leave him smiling.
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