US Open Champ Kyle Troup
From the moment the U.S. Open began, Troup had his sights on the green jacket. Troup wore all-green on the first day of qualifying with plans to wear the same outfit in the championship round on Sunday.
“I’m a firm believer in speaking things into existence,” Troup said. “I said I was going to wear green on Sunday to get my green jacket. One of my ball reps told me, ‘Winners take what they want and the losers wait for it.’ We took what we wanted today.”
The championship round at Indianapolis’ Royal Pin Woodland, the only venue to host all five PBA major championships, featured perhaps the most accredited group of finalists in PBA history. All five players — Troup, Simonsen, Belmonte, Tackett and fifth-seeded Bill O’Neill — boasted Hall-of-Fame-caliber résumés entering the finals.
They owned a combined 89 titles and 28 major titles — now 90 and 29, respectively, after Troup’s U.S. Open victory — and had won 10 of the past 11 Player of the Year awards.
Since 2015, Simonsen’s rookie season, the quintet has particularly dominated major championships. They have a combined 73 top-five finishes and 22 No. 1 seeds in 44 major championships; in only eight majors did one of the five players not finish in the top five.
After failing to make the first cut in his first seven tries at the U.S. Open, Troup finished 26th in 2021 and came within a single frame of winning the 2023 event, falling to Tackett in the title match.
“It is redemption now,” Troup said after his win. “I wasn’t worried about that all week, but if I got the green jacket and the eagle, I knew the emotions were going to flow. This (has been) a long journey back, but it feels amazing. I’m a two-time major champion. I’m not just a one-hit wonder now in the majors.”
Troup made light work of the fourth of four brutal U.S. Open oil patterns. While his opponents averaged a combined 179, Troup never shot below 212.
“I felt like I saw the picture from the first shot of the first match. I kept telling myself ‘Quiet mind. Quiet body. Slow feet.’ Just like that,” Troup said. “I never really worried about anybody else’s ball reactions. I knew mine was great and that’s all that mattered. I did know that Simonsen playing to the right was going to be tough for him — but he’s a freak. If he didn’t go split-split (to start the game), he’s right there with me.”
Troup won his second career major in front of his father, Guppy, who finished as the U.S. Open runner-up 40 years ago. “To win in front of Guppy is a blessing every time,” Troup said. “This also means I did something else that he didn’t do. Gup, we have an eagle coming home now! This is a U.S. Open win for the whole Troup family.”
Story: pba.com