Arizona State golfer in featured group for 2025 Masters

Scheffler is the number-one ranked group and will be a part of a featured group with fellow PGA champion in Justin Thomas. However, a third golfer will finish out the trio in the group in 21-year-old Arizona State alumni Josele Ballester.

Arizona State Golf announcing Ballester being a part of featured group:

The Arizona State senior earned the right to participate in Augusta because he won the U.S. Amateur last August. Ballester is the fourth Sun Devil to win the U.S. Amateur, joining Billy Mayfair, Phil Mickelson, and Jeff Quinney.

Ballester will play alongside a two-time Masters winner and have an opportunity to show the world his ability. A lot of pressure for a typical rookie, but Ballester isn’t letting that affect him as he enters the tournament confident.

Ballester on the pressure of playing at the Masters:

“It’s such a unique and special place, but at the end of the day, it’s another golf course,” he said. “Especially if you go there as a rookie for your first Masters, you might think that everything is so incredible, so cool — and it is — but you have to act like you would act on a different course. Not be afraid of taking risks, not be afraid of certain shots, because at the end of the day, it’s what I’ve done my entire life.

“The biggest (takeaway) I got is it is a cool course. Now that I know about it, I have to play it with a good mindset because if I start thinking of it as the Masters and Augusta, I might not perform as well.”

Ballester has an opportunity to represent Arizona State on a national stage, and he isn’t taking that responsibility lightly, focused on making an impact against the PGA’s best.