SUMMIT, N.J. – Upon qualifying for his first United States Open Championship, James Nicholas ran straight into the arms of America.
That’s his fiancée’s name, America Richmond. Fitting, right?
Richmond was among the 50 or so family and friends following Nicholas’ quest at Monday’s 36-hole U.S. Open final qualifier at Canoe Brook, a little over an hour – without traffic, of course – from Nicholas’ hometown of Scarsdale, New York. As Nicholas approached the North Course’s 18th green, with a tricky third shot from the rough upcoming but two shots clear of the field, his faithful gallery was just a few steps behind, nearly engulfing him in anticipation. The scene resembled an off-Broadway matinee of Phil at Kiawah, and Nicholas was playing lead.
Though he three-putted for bogey, it was just his third of the day, and at 7 under after rounds of 67-68, the 28-year-old Nicholas, a former three-sport athlete with a gifted lineage, was punching his ticket to Oakmont as medalist.
“It means the world. My support system is everything to me…,” started Nicholas, before choking up. He needed a few seconds.
The morning on the adjacent South Course had begun with a few scrappy par saves and somehow a couple early birdies. “Rocky … really rocky,” as Nicholas described it. “I was in the trees, punching out sideways and getting up and down and making some good pars.” America, who had just watched all 72 holes of last week’s Korn Ferry Tour event in Raleigh, North Carolina, was there from the start. Then Nicholas’ mom, Eileen, showed up. Then one of his brothers, Brian. Then a sponsor.
“And then I had what felt like half of New York and Scarsdale coming out and following me,” Nicholas added. “That’s what it’s all about. You don’t play this game for yourself; yeah, you want to push yourself and see where you can go, but it’s the experiences with other people that make it so special.”
Nicholas was always going to go far; he just didn’t always know in what. His late grandfather, James, was a renowned orthopedic surgeon and pioneer in the field who famously did Joe Namath’s first right-knee surgery just weeks after Namath was drafted by the Jets – he operated on the Hall of Fame quarterback’s knees four times – before founding the world’s first hospital for the treatment and prevention of sports injuries. Nicholas’ father, Stephen, followed in his father’s footsteps, and young James was pre-med at Yale until he qualified for match play at the 2017 U.S. Amateur at Riviera, sparking the belief that he could play golf professionally.
Before that, Nicholas lettered in three sports in high school – golf, football and hockey. The latter he competed in until he was 18 years old. A three-time, first-team All-State forward, Nicholas also was a member of the New Jersey Avalanche, a nationally ranked travel team, and shared ice with several current NHL stars, including Auston Matthews, Charlie McEvoy and Jake Oettinger. Nicholas’ last hockey game came in the final of the 2015 Toyota-USA Hockey Youth Tier I 18U National Championships, where Nicholas’ Avalanche lost a 5-4 thriller in overtime. He could’ve played hockey in college, but that would’ve required the New York state champion golfer to retire the clubs. Instead, Nicholas went to Yale, where he could continue the family tradition of playing multiple NCAA sports.
Stephen attended Harvard, where he played football and baseball. James’ sister Erica won six NCAA titles at D-III Middlebury College between field hockey and lacrosse. Brother Stephen was on the golf and football teams at Franklin and Marshall, where sister Michaela starred in field hockey. Brian is currently on Brown’s hockey team while Eileen, James argues, might be the best athlete of the bunch, a skilled surfer among her many sporting talents.
James Nicholas played one season at strong safety for the Bulldogs’ football team before deciding to focus solely on golf. He ended his Yale career as the 2019 Ivy League Player of the Year.
Despite his privileged upbringing, Nicholas developed the reputation of a grinder, and when he turned pro, he was eager to earn his way through the developmental ranks, unafraid of this game’s ability to humble often. Seven years later, he’s still grinding. He earned conditional Korn Ferry Tour status just months after finishing school, though he didn’t get into his first event until June thanks partly to the pandemic. He lost his card after that super season and would only log nine starts on that tour over the next two years with a few PGA Tour appearances sprinkled in. Two winters ago, he opted to try his luck in Europe; he got his DP World Tour card through qualifying school and then made each of his first three cuts. Unfortunately, he’d see the weekend just four more times the rest of the season and then missed out on keeping his card at Q-School, which led Nicholas back to America – the country, not his fiancée.
“That really tested me as a person and as a player,” Nicholas said of his year of globetrotting. “Just traveling from week to week, new places, people speaking different languages. And then playing on much, much tighter golf courses. I had to learn to hit it straighter.”
Nicholas is currently No. 61 in Korn Ferry Tour points; the top 20 at season’s end lock up PGA Tour membership. So, after catching fire Monday afternoon with four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn and joining Chris Gotterup (71-65), Roberto Diaz (65-71) and amateur Ben James (67-70) in qualifying for the U.S. Open, Nicholas had little choice – he had to fly at 8 a.m. the next morning to Greenville, South Carolina, for the KFT’s BMW Charity Pro-Am.
The grind never stops.
But moments like Monday are what keep Nicholas fighting. This one meant so much, it didn’t feel real yet.
“I’ve had this circled on my calendar for years,” Nicholas said, through tears. “When I was 15 years old and got through locals for the first time, that was just a kid with a dream. I was just so raw, I was not ever going to make it through. … But I told myself one day I’m going to be playing in a major championship, one day I’m going to win a major championship, and this is that first step.
“I’m playing on the Korn Ferry Tour this year, and it’s hard. There are so many good golfers, and to have this day, like this is my day, and I played awesome. It’s just really special. And I know it resets, and now it’s, ok, you gotta go actually prepare for a U.S. Open, and that’s a much different beast, but I’m just really thrilled with everything right now.”
And with that major step, Nicholas, with America in hand, set off to continue his journey.
