Have a look at the bio, parents, caddie and net worth of Jose Luis Ballester
Jose Luis Ballester, Spanish golfer has found himself in hot water after peeing into the famous Rae’s Creek during his opening round.
On the 13th, to the applause of the gallery, the 21-year-old Jose Luis Ballester ran to the river and immediately emptied himself. Ballester, who could now face the wrath of Augusta National officials, defended his behaviour when he returned to the clubhouse, saying he had forgotten there was a lavatory close to the tee box.
Who is golfer Jose Luis Ballester, bio, age, height, family, parents, girlfriend, college, ranking, net worth and Instagram
‘I’m like, I really need to pee,’ last year’s US Amateur champion said after carding four over. ‘I didn’t really know where to go…I’m like, I’m just going to sneak here in the river and probably people would not see me that much, and then they clapped for me.’
Peeing into Rae’s Creek wasn’t the only eye-catching moment of Ballester’s opening round as he also garnered attention on social media for his Arizona State hat featuring upside down “Sun Devils” lettering.
21-year-old Jose Luis Ballester aka Josele, was born in Castellón de la Plana, Spain on 18 August 2003 and is 6ft tall. His parents are Sonia Barrio, a gold medallist in field hockey at the 1992 Summer Olympics, and Jose Luis Ballester, an Olympic swimmer. Ballester employs Joaquin Niemann’s mental coach and is tutored by Sergio Garcia’s father, whom he views as a mentor. He also has a sister, Julia, who plays golf at Kansas State.
Ballester is the son of two Spanish Olympians with his mother Sonia Barrio winning a gold medal in field hockey at the 1992 Barcelona games and meanwhile, his father, Jose Luis Ballester Sr., was an Olympic swimmer, who also competed at the University of Florida.
He attends the Arizona State University and is dating Instagram influencer Hayden Riley James. His net worth stands between $100,000-1 million.
Ballester became the first Spaniard ever to play in the US Amateur championship match and only the second to claim a USGA title after Rahm’s 2021 US Open triumph and has five amateur victories in total – including wins at the 2020 Spanish Amateur and the 2023 European Amateur where he shot a 10-under first round.
Jose Luis Ballester career
Jose Luis Ballester, who had a great junior career, lost to Conor Gough 3-1 in the 2018 Boys Amateur Championship final at Royal Portrush Golf Club. He represented Spain in the European Young Masters, where he took home silver at Kuneticka Hora in the Czech Republic, and he also won the Spanish U-16 Championship in 2019.
Ballester defeated German player Jannik De Bruyn 3-1 in the final to win the 2020 Spanish Amateur at Real Club Sevilla Golf.
Ballester began playing college golf with the Arizona State Sun Devils men’s golf team in 2021 after enrolling at Arizona State University. In his first two seasons there, he was named an All-American. He has trained under former Sun Devils players Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm.
He took Eugenio Chacarra’s position at the 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup in Switzerland, where Chacarra had already gone professional. The international squad defeated the Americans 33–27, with Ballester earning 3.5 of the 4 points that could be earned.
He received an invitation to the 2023 Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club after winning the European Amateur by two strokes at the Parnu Bay Golf Links in Estonia in 2023.
He defeated Noah Kent by two strokes to win the Havemeyer Trophy in the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
As of January 2025, he had reached a best of World No.4 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and has managed nine amateur victories so far, including college titles.