OAKMONT, Pa. — At the age of four, Mason Howell`s Halloween costume choice was a golfer. Not a contemporary star like Tiger Woods or Rickie Fowler, but the legendary 1920s champion Bobby Jones, complete with vintage knickers, high socks, and a flat cap.
“It really is all he wants to do,” shared his father, Robb Howell. “He`d rather do this than eat or sleep, certainly rather do this than go to school. He wants to play golf.”
This week, the 17-year-old gets to live that passion on one of golf`s grandest stages: the 125th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. He stands out as the youngest competitor among the 156 players in the field.
“It kind of just shows that the hard work does pay off,” Howell stated. “All the days in the middle of the summer down in the south Georgia heat, sweating, just beating balls and trying to make putts, and just a lot of hard work. This experience is unlike something I`ve ever done before, so it`s absolutely crazy.”
Howell`s major championship debut is scheduled for Thursday at 8:46 a.m. ET, teeing off from the 10th hole at Oakmont alongside Chris Gotterup and DP World Tour player Joakim Lagergren.
His path to the U.S. Open wasn`t a quiet entry. On May 8, he was a co-medalist at the local qualifying stage held at Hawkstone Country Club in Gainesville, Florida, carding an impressive 7-under 64.
In the final qualifying round at Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta, Howell was flawless, playing 36 holes without a single bogey and posting two rounds of 9-under 63. This performance earned him co-medalist honors alongside Jackson Buchanan, a 2024 U.S. Amateur semifinalist.
The field he outperformed included accomplished players such as past major champions Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner, along with PGA Tour golfers Will Chandler, Hayden Buckley, Greyson Sigg, and others.
“I`m surprised he did it in that environment, but I`m not surprised he can make that many birdies,” Robb Howell commented. “I`ve seen him do that a bunch. I`ve seen him shoot 60 or 61 at our course several times.”
Indeed, Howell once shot a remarkable 13-under 59 at Glen Arven Country Club in his hometown of Thomasville, Georgia. He was just 14 years old at the time.
Mason received his first set of clubs from his parents, Robb and Lauren, at age five and played his first tournament the following year. By age 12, he decided to quit tennis and baseball to concentrate solely on golf.
He joined the varsity golf team as a sixth grader at the Maclay School in Tallahassee, Florida.
“He was 12, playing against these high school kids,” Robb Howell recalled. “They would walk to the first tee, and some 18-year-old would look at this kid and say, `Gosh, I`m going to kill him.` Then he`d be losing by four shots after three holes.”
Howell has been on the varsity team at the Brookwood School in Thomasville since eighth grade. In April, Brookwood School secured its fourth Georgia Independent Athletic Association state title in the past five years, with Howell winning the individual state championship after a playoff.
Before U.S. Open qualifying, Howell was ranked 470th in the World Amateur Ranking. He won his age division at the 2022 Future Masters in Dothan, Alabama, a tournament also won by Masters champions Bubba Watson and Scottie Scheffler as juniors. Howell also claimed first place in the 2023 Billy Horschel Junior Championships and reached match play in the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur.
“He`s an unbelievable talent, and he loves it,” said Brookwood School coach Jimmy Gillam. “He works his ass off, and that`s what I love most. He doesn`t get wrapped up in the success. He squashes it and then looks forward to the next tournament.”
Gillam, who also serves as an assistant teaching pro at Glen Arven Country Club, shared an anecdote about Howell`s dedication, recalling a cold December morning when a young Mason called him asking for a chipping lesson, insistent on coming despite a frost delay.
“I`m on my way,” Howell told him. “I`m ready now.”
Gillam is caddying for Howell this week. A native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Gillam is familiar with Oakmont, having won the 2018 Western Pennsylvania Open there before his playing career ended due to a back injury.
Gillam describes Howell as “one of the best putters I`ve ever seen” and notes his impressive distance, driving the ball up to 305 yards and hitting a 7-iron about 195 yards.
“It`s like playing a video game,” Gillam remarked. “Whenever you`re working with him, he can just pick it up so fast, and it`s going to be an awesome test for him. He`s going to learn so much about himself. He`s going to learn how to play very disciplined golf, because if you try to get greedy out here, you`re going to really get bit.”
Howell had the opportunity to play practice rounds earlier this week with five-time PGA Tour winner Harris English, who also spent part of his childhood in Thomasville and played junior golf at Glen Arven.
“He`s great,” English said. “He`s way better than I was at 17. I couldn`t imagine playing this event going into your senior year of high school. He`s got all the tools: He`s long, he can flight it, seems like a good wedge player. He`s got all the tools.”
A rising senior at the Brookwood School, Howell has committed to play collegiate golf at the University of Georgia in 2026, English`s alma mater. His family also has strong ties to UGA, with his sister being a rising junior there and his mother a graduate, while his father attended law school there.
“As I told him this week, it`s just about gaining experience,” English advised. “He`s going to be playing in a lot of these, and the sooner you can become comfortable out here, playing in front of these crowds, playing golf courses like this, the better. For him, just the experience is incredible, and just soak it in and not be too hard on yourself. I mean, he`s still young.”
Howell is aware that Oakmont Country Club`s notoriously deep 5-inch rough and incredibly fast greens will test even the world`s elite golfers. His personal goals for the tournament are to make the 36-hole cut and to win low amateur honors, following in the footsteps of golf icons like Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, and Viktor Hovland.
“I know he wants to compete,” English added. “I know he wants to make the cut. He wants to have a chance to win, but this is the hardest test we have in golf. We don`t see it a whole lot, and this is his first time seeing it. So he`s going to learn a lot about himself, a lot about his game, and seeing this kind of level of golf is an awesome experience for him.”
Reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau also offered a piece of advice to Howell: “Just be grateful, that`s one thing.”
“I was so focused when I was 17 on being the best player I could be, I lost sight of how cool it was to be traveling the country at that time and playing golf,” said DeChambeau, who made his own U.S. Open debut as a 21-year-old in 2015. “I lost a little bit of that.”
If Howell succeeds in making the cut, he would become only the third-youngest golfer to do so in the U.S. Open since World War II. The others are Beau Hossler (17 years, 3 months), who tied for 29th as an amateur in 2012, and Michael Thorbjornsen (17 years, 8 months), who finished 79th in 2019.
Mason Howell will celebrate his 18th birthday on June 28.
“It`s pretty cool for a parent to watch a kid`s dream come true, you know?” Robb Howell reflected. “That`s what my wife and I are getting to do right now in front of our eyes, which is pretty special. All he`s ever wanted to do was play golf, and he`s wanted to be a professional golfer his whole life.”
