Who is Omar Morales, the amateur Mexican golfer at the US Open?
Omar Morales, along with Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz, complete the triplet of Mexicans participating in the 123rd edition of the US Open.
The 123rd edition of the US Open is now underway and the play began with Mexican Omar Morales named as one of the 156 participants for the American major at the Los Angeles Country Club. But just who is this new golfer from south of the border?
Morales was born in Puebla, Mexico, 20 years ago, and is currently a business major at UCLA. He qualified for this, his first US Open, on June 5 by winning the qualifying round, finishing 12 under par.
The US Open will be Morales’ third professional golf tournament, after the 2022 Tour and the 2023 Mexico Open at Vidanta. Morales told the Golf Channel that it is an honor to play the major and that he is grateful to be able to play it.
Morales is one of 11 college golfers who will participate in the US Open. At the amateur level, the young man from Puebla was number one in Mexico in the 2018-19 season. In addition, through that period he won the Southern Golf Association championship twice.
According to the UCLA website, the list of athletes who inspire Morales includes basketball player LeBron James, soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo , boxer Floyd Mayweather and golfer Tiger Woods.
How did Omar Morales fare in the first round of the 2023 US Open?
The first round of the US Open was played at a par 70 of 18 holes and Omar Morales finished one shot over par. That was enough for the 20-year-old to finish the day tied for 34th position. On the first, sixth and eighth holes, Morales recorded birdies while on the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 17th, he had to make do with bogeys.