Aman Gupta Capitalizing On His Opportunity At U.S. Am

Three days before the U.S. Amateur began, Aman Gupta was within the bubble at Bandon Dunes so he could prepare for the biggest tournament of the year.

The only issue was he didn’t have a place in the event. Even with 264 players in the field, the importance of this year’s U.S. Am in a somewhat barren competitive landscape made it uncertain Gupta would get in as first alternate. Fortunately for him, world No. 2 Ricky Castillo withdrew because of illness unrelated to COVID-19, which opened a coveted spot.

“I knew when I flew out Thursday as first alternate, with all the craziness that is happening in the world right now, there was a fairly good chance I was going to get in,” Gupta said. “When I got here, it was business as usual. I got the call Friday afternoon and everything was back to normal.”

Gupta, a 21-year-old rising junior at Oklahoma State, has taken full advantage of the opportunity. He opened stroke play with seven birdies in nine holes to shoot 7-under 64, even making all pars on his closing nine. It broke the cours...