Beau Hossler: Amateur's Late US Open Collapse Will Not Hurt Promising Career

Beau Hossler captivated a nation after remaining in contention for most of the 2012 U.S. Open. The 17-year-old finally cooled off on Sunday, shooting a four-over par on the back nine, which dropped him to nine over for the tournament.

That shaky performance is nothing for the young man—who is not even a senior in high school yet—to worry about. He finished T-29 in a tournament that saw the favorite, Tiger Woods, end up at plus seven and T-21.

Considering that Hossler is almost 20 years younger than the 14-time major winner, he has plenty of time to improve his game and has launched himself into the spotlight as one of the better up-and-coming prospects in the sport.

Hossler is already making history at this young age, and according to ESPN’s Michelle Smith, he became the first high schooler to make back-to-back U.S. Open appearances since 1951 and was on the verge of becoming the first amateur since ’71 to finish in the top 10.

Smith also reported that some professionals are quite impressed and realize that the kid is going to be good.

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"I had no idea how to play golf at his age," said Hossler's Sunday playing partner, Jason Dufner. "I know he wishes he would have probably finished a little bit better, but any time you're in the top 30 of a U.S. Open at 17 years old, you got to have a lot going for you."

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Hossler has a long way to go from here—even Tiger didn’t win his first major until the age of 21—but he put himself on the map in the 2012 U.S. Open. Fans of golf will definitely be seeing Beau Hossler’s name again soon.