There could be a middle schooler teeing it up at the U.S. Open this month.
Jaden Soong, a 13-year-old golf prodigy, will miss school on Monday to compete in the final round of U.S. Open qualifying at Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles, 10 days before the major tournament begins at Los Angeles Country Club.
Should Soong qualify, he’d become the youngest golfer ever to play at a U.S. Open; Andy Zhang was 14 when he played in the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic in San Francisco.
While standing at 5-foot-2, 115 pounds, Soong can launch the ball up to 280 yards with his driver and the Burbank native impressed many at the opening qualifying round.
“I’m expecting some people to be a little shocked and surprised,” Soong, a seventh-grader at Thomas Starr King middle school, told USA Today ahead of Monday’s 36-hole qualifying round.
At the first qualifying round for the tournament last month, Soong nailed a 12-foot playoff putt to secure his spot in Monday’s final round.
The shot made him the youngest player ever to advance to the final stage of qualifying for the U.S. Open.
“I love golf more than any other thing I can imagine,” Soong recently told the Los Angeles Times.
Soong, who’s set to tee off at 11:55 a.m. ET on Monday, would be playing about a half-hour from home if he qualifies for the U.S. Open.
“That definitely would be really cool and exciting,” Soong told USA Today. “I’m not really putting too much of that into it, because I kind of want to go in there with no expectations.”
