Hammer time at US Open for 15-year-old Cole

As a high school student, Cole Hammer is too young to drive the courtesy car given to all players to use during the US Open this week at Chambers Bay. So you can imagine yesterday was an emotional day for 15-year-old high school sophomore Cole Hammer.

Playing his first US Open, prepared to tee off on Thursday morning and found himself overcome with the weight of the moment.

Hammer has an extraordinary task in front of him, but he started it off the right way: after his drive on No. 1 went into the left rough, recovered with a stellar approach and a two-putt par.

For a kid whose hero is Jordan Spieth – that would be 21-year-old Jordan Spieth – this isn’t a bad place to be.

“This means the world to me,” Hammer told the Dallas Morning News last week.

“I’ve dreamed about it my whole life. It’s going to be awesome.” Let’s not even think about the fact that his first golf memory is Tiger Woods’ most recent major win at Torrey Pines in 2008. This year’s field contained 17 amateurs, the most since 1981. Fourteen of those qualified last week. Hammer was seven over through 17 last night.