He might not get to play in this week’s U.S. Open, but Joe Neuheisel was having a great time Tuesday afternoon at Torrey Pines.
“What’s not to like about this?” Neuheisel said as he prepared to tee off for a practice round at Torrey Pines South. “Pretty darn cool.”
If the name sounds familiar, Neuheisel is the son of Rick Neuheisel, former UCLA, USFL and (briefly) Chargers quarterback and coach at Colorado, Washington and his alma mater. And the elder Neuheisel, serving as his son’s caddie, had a big smile as well.
“We were out there yesterday taking it all in,” Rick Neuheisel said. “It was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ It was a great father-son moment, or in this case, son-father.”
“Yeah,” his son chimed in. “Give me some credit.”
Joe Neuheisel, 24, is the first alternate for the tournament, which begins Thursday morning. He’ll get a spot in the field only if one of the 156 players withdraws before 6:45 a.m. Thursday. But the United States Golf Association invited several alternates to play practice rounds this week, just in case.
Neuheisel nearly made it into the field last week in qualifying in Rolling Hills, but he bogeyed the 18th hole to drop into a playoff and then missed out after two other competitors matched his short birdie with putts of 50 and 25 feet. He got knocked out on the next hole.
“A nightmare,” Rick Neuheisel said. “But give those guys credit. Goes to show you this is a tough game.”
Joe Neuheisel, who is from Scottsdale, Ariz., went to UCLA for two years but was not a member of the golf team. He transferred to Boise State and played three seasons for the Broncos. He tied for 11th at this year’s Mountain West conference tournament.
“He’s a late bloomer,” his father said. “We’re trying to get him one more year from the NCAA because he wasn’t on the team at UCLA.”
Rick Neuheisel works as a college football analyst for CBS Sports and also hosts a college sports talk show on SiriusXM Radio. He said his son was 14 when he first beat him in golf.
“He had a two-shot lead going to the last hole and said the pressure was too much,” Rick said. “He hit a drive right down the middle and said, ‘It’s over. The era of dominance is over.’ ”
