This pro is an open book. He is now in the US Open
SOUTHAMPTON, NY — James Nicholas started his US Open day here on the sandy, windswept South Fork just as Jones, Hogan and Nicklaus used to start theirs.
By slipping on the Meta glasses.
At 3:55 am
“I have a YouTube channel,” said Nicholas, 29, a native of Scarsdale, NY, who has 33,000 subscribers on the video platform, and another 163,000 followers on Instagram. “I’m trying to record behind the scenes what it’s like to play in the US Open. I wore them and I talked to myself, I talked to the fans and I’m trying to share this with everyone.”
Nicholas got up before the roosters for his first start at the 126th US Open at Shinnecock Hills. At 4:25 he was taking a shower. By 4:40, he was out the door. By 5, he was at the site and digging for breakfast. By 5:20, he was warming up. And at 6:35 sharp, he was on the 1st tee alongside Taylor Montgomery and Caleb Surratt. It’s time to “get it out,” Nicholas said later, “and that’s kind of what I always say no matter what the round is.”
And he did, posting a four-birdie 71, on a difficult, windy morning, to give him the clubhouse lead.
Nicholas, who has worked on the Korn Ferry Tour through Winged Foot (where he played his junior golf) and Yale University (his college golf), is lucky to be here at all.
In his second of two rounds in his final US Open qualifier earlier this month, Nicholas was in a bad situation on the 5th hole after blocking not one but two shots into the trees on the right side of the fairway. The first ball was a goner and the second seemed to be too – that is until a friend of Nicholas’, who was walking in the small gallery, saw a Titleist decorated with an American flag deep in the foliage. That allowed Nicholas to take an unplayable game instead of a replay and almost saved him at least a stroke. That shot made a big impact because, at the end of the round, Nicholas’ score of 140 (68-72) put him in a four-way tie. By the time he won that, he had punched his ticket to a second consecutive US Open.
Nicholas is a world-class golfer and an exceptional participant, catcher and poster. He takes his social herd with him almost everywhere he goes: the field, the stadium, the gym, the locker room, his honeymoon. In February, after winning his first ever Korn Ferry title, Nicholas took to Instagram to share his P&L for the week: $1,050 in flights, $42.98 in massages, $18,000 in bonus money for his caddy, etc. That video has been viewed 7.2 million times.
Nicholas’ early-morning, Meta-assisted photo from Shinnecock is sure to turn heads. Your purpose? “I’m playing Round 1 of the US Open,” said Nicholas. “Let’s go have a great day. I’m going to do this. I’m able to do all the busy travel to be here. I get to come out here and play in incredibly difficult conditions. I get to play one of the best golf courses in the world. Instead of, I have to, and fix that idea. And I look at my family’s face as we look at these doors, we’re playing in the United States, we’re playing in the United States.”
However, he was two holes in, at which point play was stopped by a cloud of fog that had covered the fairway. When the horn sounded, Nicholas looked into the distance, thinking that the break would be fast. But 15 minutes turned into 30, and 30 became … well, it was hard to know. Wanting to conserve energy, Nicholas retreated to the clubhouse to spend time with his wife, mother and a few friends. “It’s the US Open, but you just have to relax and hang out,” he said. Play finally resumed at 9:05.
You wouldn’t blame Nicholas if he felt overwhelmed by the moment. But he didn’t, he said, instead choosing to embrace the splendor of the field in a no-nonsense way. “When I get to Korn Ferry and play week in and week out, sometimes you doubt it,” he said. “But out here you almost have this, ‘Let’s just send it out and see what happens.’ You put less pressure on yourself, less pressure.”
That approach worked for Nicholas last year at beastly Oakmont, where he opened with a 69 to take 6th place. But flying too close to the sun, he said, got into his head. “[In] Round 2 I struggled because I put all that pressure on myself, and you expect it.” He signed off with a 78, then played the weekend in 75-77 to finish T61.
Enter Nicholas’s mental coach, Joe Perron, who taught Nicholas about the fear of failure. “It’s something I struggle with,” said Nicholas. “It’s like I want to do my best. Once I put myself in a position, you’re scared, you have this fear of failure.”
On Thursday, Nicholas showed no such panic, reeling off two bogeys to stay in the hunt. Another test awaits Friday, and, if he passes it, he will face an even bigger test this weekend. Maybe you’ll see Nicholas on NBC. If not, try YouTube.
