No matter what he did at The Open Championship, Aaron Jarvis was set to make history. Via his victory at the Latin America Amateur Championship (LAAC) in January, Jarvis became the first golfer from the Cayman Islands to compete in The Open’s 150-year history.
It would have been enough just to compete to accomplish a first for his country. But Jarvis went in to the tournament wanting more, with the support of around 30 friends and family members. An up-and-down start left him well outside the cutline after the first round with an opening 75. But paired alongside major champions Stewart Cink and Sergio Garcia, Jarvis made a run during the second round to give himself a chance.
“Yeah, it was great,” said Jarvis after his second round. “The whole day, I just had that mindset of going out and playing some golf today and making a charge to hopefully make the cut. I'm on the number right now, so we'll see. But it's been a good day.”
At even par, Jarvis watched the leaderboard all afternoon to see if his number would be enough. In the end, he made the cut on the number to become the first Caymanian and the first reigning LAAC champion to make the cut at The Open.
After an even-par 72 on Saturday that saw him edge playing partner Sungjae Im, a top-25 player in the world, by two strokes, Jarvis joked that his one wish for Sunday would be to “maybe shoot 59.”
While the 59 was not to be, Jarvis did finish T76 at one over, the second-best mark amongst amateurs in the field.
“What a week,” said Jarvis after his final round. “Crazy in a good way. Everything thrown at you and all the good challenges and stuff, it’s been awesome…Just that I can come out here and compete with these guys. Just got to trust your game plan and just have fun when you play.”
