"It's a dream come true," Hagestad said about being low amateur. "It's something I've long thought about and to have it come to fruition is an absolute dream come true."
Hagestad, who works as a financial analyst by day in New York, earned his way into the field by winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur. He became the first U.S. Mid-Amateur champion to make the cut since 1989.
On the day before his 26th birthday, Hagestad ended up winning the low amateur title by three strokes over Curtis Luck. He needed a strong back nine on Sunday to close it out.
"I just kind of said, 'Hey, we're playing Augusta National on Sunday afternoon, the day before my birthday, and it's a perfect day. It doesn't get much better than this,'" Hagestad told Golfweek. "Obviously, low amateur was important to me and it was a huge goal, but I think one part of getting older is that there's so much more to it than that."
USC's Stewart Hagestad caps amazing run as #themasters Low Am at Green Jacket ceremony. The Cardinal & Gold golfer takes home the Silver Cup pic.twitter.com/P5orSVM53a
-- USC Mens Golf (@USCMensGolf) April 10, 2017
