GAINESVILLE, Va. (AP) — U.S. Amateur champion Jose Luis Ballester of Spain has joined LIV Golf and will make his professional debut this week at the Saudi-funded league’s Virginia event.
Ballester, who goes by the nickname Josele, signed a multiyear contract, LIV said Wednesday, and will be part of the Fireballs team captained by fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia.
“We are very excited about Josele joining the team,” Garcia said in a statement. “Personally, I have known him since he could pick up a golf club and he has worked with my father as his coach throughout his golf career.”
The 21-year-old Ballester recently concluded his senior season at Arizona State, the alma mater of LIV stars Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson. He finished third in the PGA Tour University standings, earning him full status on the Korn Ferry Tour, but Golf Channel reported Monday that he declined membership on the PGA Tour’s top developmental circuit.
Although he missed the cut at the Masters in April, Ballester had a viral moment when he relieved himself in Rae’s Creek on the par-5 13th hole.
Ballester defeated Noah Kent 2 up in the 36-hole U.S. Amateur final at Hazeltine last August. Although he is turning professional, he keeps his spot in next week’s U.S. Open at Oakmont as the reigning champion of the USGA’s top amateur event.
Ballester joins Abraham Ancer and David Puig alongside Garcia on the Fireballs. Luis Masaveu loses his full-time spot on the team, although he remains in the lineup this week because Puig has a back injury.
Masaveu does not have status on any other tour and he would be banned from competing in PGA Tour events for a year after his final LIV appearance.
