TUCSON, Ariz. - To say that Arizona men's golfer Filip Jakubcik was trending in the right direction during the Spring portion of the Wildcats 2024-25 season is an understatement. And he has shown no signs of slowing down as he prepares to take on the best golfers in the world at the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland later this week.
"Playing in a major was always a goal of mine," said Jakubcik, who will be a senior for the Wildcats this fall. "But growing up, The Open was always the tournament I wanted to play in the most."
The Open Championship is one of golf's four major tournaments, along with The Masters, PGA Championship and the U.S. Open, and will provide Jakubcik to live out one of his childhood dreams. And he joins Tiger Christensen, who played in the 2023 Open Championship, and Zach Pollo, who will play in the 2025 U.S. Open, as recent Wildcats to qualify for major championships as amateurs.
Jakubcik will get his first round started at 12:36 a.m. (MST) Thursday morning alongside Thorbjorn Oleson and Matthew Jordan. The trio will be paired together for round two as well, which starts at 5:36 a.m. (MST). Both rounds will be televised on the Peacock app and USA Network.
With many of his family and friends making the trek from the Czech Republic to the UK to watch Jakubcik in person on such a large stage, it would be easy to understand if there were some nerves on the first tee.
"As much as I want to say I won't be nervous, I probably will be," Jakubcik said after a Tuesday practice round. "But I think I will do fine."
To make his dream a reality, Jakubcik had to battle through four rounds at the European Amateur Championship in Sweden at the end of June. He entered the final in a three-way tie for the lead and birdied four of his first nine holes on the way to a three-shot victory and an automatic spot in The Open.
Was he thinking about advancing to The Open during the European Amateur?
"I thought about it pretty much the whole day," Jakubcik admitted. "But at the same time I was trying not to so I could focus on my game and get the job done."
In getting the job done, he became the first golfer from the Czech Republic to win the European Amateur. But he hopes that he is not the last.
"It's cool representing Arizona and Czech Republic at The Open Championships. I just hope to motivate all the Czech players to keep grinding and hopefully we will see more Czech players here soon."
For this week, the focus turns to Royal Portrush and taking on a challenging course. It is just the third time that The Open has been held at the course, joining 1951 and 2019.
"I've only played two practice rounds, but my first impression is that it is pretty tough. There will be a lot of emphasis on the short game, putting and keeping the ball in play to avoid bogeys. I think par is going to be good on this course."
Jakubcik made a splash during the practice round, recording a hole-in-one on the sixth hole with a 5-iron from 175 meters.
After finishing in the Top 10 in five of the final seven tournaments during the 2024-25 season with the Wildcats, including a win at the prestigious Western Intercollegiate, few would doubt if Jakubcik was able to carry that over into this week.
But he is taking it one day at a time. And one round at a time.
"We will just try to go out there and have a day," Jakubcik said.
