It's not often that an amateur wins on the PGA Tour. When Nick Dunlap did it in January of 2024, he became just the eighth player to pull it off.
Ben James, 21, a junior at Virginia, is within striking distance at the 2025 Valero Texas Open and if he should go on to win, he'd pull off the unimaginable.
James shot a 1-under 71 on Friday and is 5-under overall after 36 holes. He walked off the course four shots back of leader Keith Mitchell, so there's plenty of work to do, but James can not only look forward to making the cut and playing the weekend at TPC San Antonio, he just might have visions of Pimento cheese sandwiches and green jackets dancing in his head.
"I'm just so happy to be here, like in general," he said after his second round in which he recovered from a double-bogey on No. 5 (his 14th hole of the day) with three pars and a birdie to close it out. "Like it was great to win the college event and get a spot here so I can't thank the whole Valero Texas Open enough for giving me the spot. Just have some fun, that's the key."
Winning the Valero Texas Open would mean a Masters invite
The Masters invite list includes "winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation from previous Masters to current Masters" and the Texas Open is the final one on the schedule before next week's Masters.
And that would apply to James, who would get a spot, the 97th and final one for the 2025 Masters, regardless of whether he decides to turn pro or not.
If he wins and remains an amateur, he'd be the sixth one in this year's Masters lineup, joining Josele Ballester, Evan Beck, Justin Hastings, Noah Kent and Hiroshi Tai. James is the third-ranked men's golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
"I told my caddie and my mom this week it's the most comfortable I felt ever. I played pretty good, but you know, just confident in myself, confident in the work I've done beforehand, and it's a solid two days," he said. "Just practicing well at home and just having fun, enjoying the moment, enjoying the crowds, enjoying my mom being out here."
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Amateur Ben James makes cut Valero Texas Open. A win means Masters bid
