Final Qualifying: Shot 68-72--140 at the Golf Club of Purchase and Century C.C., in Purchase, N.Y., on June 8

Nicholas is headed back to the U.S. Open after posting 2-under 140 at the Golf Club of Purchase and Century Country Club. A year ago, Nicholas survived both stages of qualifying and then made the weekend, one of two local/final qualifiers to achieve the feat (Philip Barbaree Jr.). Nicholas, who played both football (one season) and golf at Yale University, currently competes on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he claimed his first victory earlier this year at the Astara Golf Championship presented by MasterCard. He spent his 2024 season on the DP World Tour (former European Tour). Nicholas originally dreamed of playing ice hockey in the Olympics, but pivoted when he enrolled at Yale University. He comes from a highly athletic and competitive family. Younger sisters Erica and Michaela both played Division III field hockey at Middlebury (Vt.) College and Franklin & Marshall, respectively. In 2018 and '19, Erica was the national Division III player of the year. She won 6 NCAA titles (four in field hockey and two in lacrosse). Younger brother, Stephen, played Division III golf and football at Franklin & Marshall, and his brother, Brian, is a rising junior on the Brown men's hockey team. His grandfather and father are both noted orthopaedic surgeons who served as team doctors for the N.Y. Jets, N.Y. Knicks, N.Y. Islanders and N.Y. Rangers. Each has performed surgeries on Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath. His father, Stephen, played football and baseball at Harvard. James Nicholas qualified for a pair of U.S. Amateurs and was the 2019 Ivy League Player of the Year. In 2024, he won the New York State Open at Bethpage State Park's Black Course, a two-time U.S. Open venue.