Trouble off tee leaves Palmer Jackson swimming upstream at U.S. Amateur

Palmer Jackson used to be a baseball pitcher and could freeze-frame a knuckleball with the best of them.

He was Franklin Regional’s answer to Tim Wakefield.

During the U.S. Amateur earlier this month at Oakmont Country Club, Jackson was thrown a curve ball.

The golf standout, who will be a junior at Notre Dame, fought errant tee shots in the first round of stroke play at Longue Vue Club and dug himself a hole from which he couldn’t escape when he played menacing Oakmont in the second round.

Jackson carded a pair of 76s and failed to advance to match play in his fourth U.S. Amateur appearance.

He made the quarterfinals in 2019 at Pinehurst.

No task seems too tall for Jackson, who at 20 has played some of the best amateur tournaments and courses in the country. But asking anybody to break par at Oakmont, especially under USGA-controlled conditions, is borderline unfair.

“I mean, Angel Cabrera shot, what, 7-over to win the U.S. Open here?” said Arizona grad Brad Reeves, who shot an even-par 70 at Oakmont and made match play. “It’s just so hard.”

Cabrera was 5-over for 72 holes, but you get the point.

“I hit a couple tee shots to the right (on Monday). I’ve been fighting that,” Jackson said about his opening round. “You can’t miss right over there because that is where the trouble is. I was pressing (in the second round).

“To contend here, you have to do everything well. I didn’t do anything up to my standards, and it is disappointing.”

Jackson, who had another summer for the mantel, has played an exhausting schedule. Things finally will slow down now as he gets set to return to Notre Dame for the fall semester.

“I haven’t been practicing like I normally do,” Jackson said. “I mean, I play every day. Hit balls or whatever. But I have played more tournament golf than practice. That’s just how I have always been, play as much as you can.”

Jackson had his former high school golf coach, Jeff Traphagen, on the bag at Longue Vue and Oakmont.

“Palmer kept grinding,” Traphagen said. “He played well. It’s so tough to score (at Oakmont). I know he was really looking forward to this.”

Jackson won the Sigel Match Play tournament, took third at the Frank B. Fuhrer Invitational and was fourth at the Sunnehanna Amateur. Forever a sponge for golf knowledge, he said he continues to learn as he goes.

“This was a neat experience, but I have to play better,” he said. “Hopefully, I can play in the (2025) U.S. Open here and look back on this week.”

Jackson joined the gallery when he was done playing to watch his friend and fellow Hannastown Golf Club member, Mark Goetz, play.

Goetz went on to claim medalist honors after round of 64 and 68, the latter coming at Oakmont, for an 8-under total.

“Mark and I have played so much golf together,” Jackson said. “It’s tough to say what courses fit his game. He is one of the longest drivers and best putters I know. He can take on any course.”