21-year-old Jose Luis Ballester made his Masters debut on Thursday, but the headlines he made had nothing to do with his performance on the greens.
Jose Luis Ballester won the 2023 European Amateur and 2024 U.S. Amateur events, cementing himself as one of the world’s top young golfers ahead of the 2025 Masters in Augusta.
Speaking to reporters after day one of the 2025 Masters, Ballester was asked about “relieving” himself at Rae’s Creek near the 13th hole. Ballester confirmed that he indeed urinated in the creek, having forgotten that there were bathrooms available nearby, per ESPN’s Dave Wilson:
“I’m like, I really need to pee. Didn’t really know where to go, and since JT (Justin Thomas) had an issue on the green, I’m like, I’m just going to sneak here in the river and probably people would not see me that much.”
Ballester hoped he’d escape undetected, but the Spaniard said he received some claps from fans after nature called. Ballester was in a group with Justin Thomas and reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler.
Here’s the video of Jose Luis Ballester’s hilarious conversation with reporters after the round:
Here’s U.S. Amateur champion Josele Ballester talking about why he peed in Rae’s Creek during the first round of the Masters pic.twitter.com/CbO6KXBdWH
— Cameron Jourdan (@Cam_Jourdan) April 10, 2025
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The Masters runs through Sunday, but only the top 50 players on the leaderboard will make the weekend cut. So Ballester is going to need a strong outing on Friday to punch his ticket to day three.
Jose Luis Ballester Struggled In The First Round
It was a tough day out on Augusta for Ballester, which is understandable considering that he was surely dealing with intense nerves. He finished Thursday’s round with a score of 76, four over the course’s par (72).
The 2025 Masters leader through round one is England’s Justin Rose, who shot an impressive seven-under. The 2013 U.S. Open winner finished second in the 2017 Masters, losing to Sergio García in a playoff hole.
