Iowa second-year men’s golfer Noah Kent has exploded onto the national golf scene as he finished runner-up at the U.S. Amateur Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, on Sunday.

Kent was a tremendous underdog before he lost to 2020 European Amateur champion Josele Ballester by two holes in the 36-hole match play final. Ballester currently golfs for Arizona State University by way of Castellón, Spain, as he considers fellow Spaniard and 2017 Masters Tournament winner Sergio García a mentor of his.

But Kent, of Naples, Florida, was ranked just 560th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking heading into the prestigious tournament — yet he rallied to the final match with:

• A T32 finish in stroke play at -1
• A 4 and 2 round of 64 win over Xihuan Chang (China)
• A 2 and 1 round of 32 win over Tom Fischer (Ole Miss)
• A 4 and 2 round of 16 win over Garrett Engle (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga)
• A 3 and 2 quarterfinal win over Ethan Fang (Cal)
• A 2-up semifinal win over Jackson Buchanan (Illinois)

The Hawkeye thus advanced to take on Ballester in the final, firing back from down four holes after the first 18 to down just one with a chance to tie heading into the 36th hole on Sunday, although Ballester won that hole to take the championship.

After Kent’s freshman year for the Hawkeyes last year that saw him compete in 33 rounds with a team-best stroke average of 72.8, his qualification for the final earned him exemptions into the 2025 U.S. Open and 2025 Masters tournaments.

As for now, Kent is in fantastic company for his future should he anticipate turning professional after his college career as many golf greats have finished second in the U.S. Amateur before him, including:

• 2021 Tour Champion Patrick Cantlay in 2011
• 1984 and 1995 Masters Tournament winner Ben Crenshaw in 1972
• 1992 U.S. Open winner Tom Kite in 1970
• 1973 Masters Tournament winner Tommy Aaron in 1958