Thrills keep rolling in for golfer; next up, the British Open

Brandon Wu is collecting a lifetime's worth of golf experiences in one year.

The 22-year-old amateur golfer and recent Stanford University graduate was headed to Great Britain on Thursday, where he will practice for the 148th British Open (July 18-21) at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

Coupled with his appearance last month at the US Open in Pebble Beach, California, where he made it to the final round, the 6-foot, 170-pound Wu is the first amateur since 1967 to qualify for the two major tournaments in the same year.

Wu spoke to China Daily by telephone Tuesday afternoon from Pinehurst, North Carolina, where he was participating in an amateur golf event.

Wu said he first picked up a golf club at age 7 in his hometown of Danville, California, where he and his father would play at a course near their home.

The family moved to Beijing when he was 8, and the young golfer got to play in some amateur events in China.

"When I lived there, I played a lot of junior golf, played the HSBC Pro-Am in Shanghai when I was 12," Wu said.

With his mother, Zhang Xiaobing, a native of Beijing, and his father, Wu Yichun, from Guangzhou, Wu has been speaking Mandarin since he was a boy.

"I grew up speaking Mandarin at home. I've always been able to speak fluently," said the affable Wu.

When Wu was 13, the family moved back to the United States, to Scarsdale, New York. Wu went on to attend prestigious Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, where he won a partial golf scholarship to Stanford.

"I always wanted to go to Stanford, so when they started recruiting me, that was like a dream come true," Wu said.

In May, Wu finished 3-0 in match play to lead Stanford, alma mater of Tiger Woods, to its ninth National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) team title over the University of Texas. Wu is the sixth-ranked amateur golfer in the world.

Wu, incidentally, has met Woods twice — once at Stanford and another time at a Nike-sponsored tournament.

Wu even received his Stanford diploma (a mechanical engineering degree in product design) on June 16 behind Pebble Beach's 18th green after the US Open, where he finished 35th after shooting 1 over par. He was presented with the honor by US Golf Association President-elect Stu Francis, who happens to be a Stanford MBA grad.

"It's an awesome feeling, such a cool experience," was how Wu described his US Open participation.

In early June, Wu was a member of the US team at the Arnold Palmer Cup in Arkansas, a mixed international competition for university golfers.

While in the UK, Wu plans to play the Muirfield, North Berwick and Royal County Down courses before setting up at Royal Portrush by Monday morning.

In September, in what likely will be his last amateur event before he turns professional and joins the PGA tour, Wu is expected to play in the venerable Walker Cup at Royal Liverpool, according to GolfChannel.com. He is considered the top candidate to captain the 10-man US team, which will compete against a combined squad from Great Britain and Ireland.

"It's an incredible honor to represent your country, and the Walker Cup is definitely the pinnacle of that in amateur golf," Wu told the website. "I'm a little superstitious in this regard, but I'm going to just try and keep playing well to add to my resume. More good golf won't hurt."

Wu sees his iron play and putting as the strengths of his golf game.

A well-conditioned athlete, Wu says lifting weights "helps with injury prevention, helps you to become a better athlete in general".

Wu told China Daily he will approach next week's British Open in a relaxed fashion.

"I'm pretty carefree but also quite excited. … I just go out there and try to do my best and not worry too much about how I end up doing."