John Biever/SI

Ricky Barnes at the 2003 Masters.

This article first appeared in the June 10, 2003 issue of Sports Illustrated, Golf Plus U.S. Open Preview

It's 11 o'clock on a Saturday night in Tucson, and Ricky Barnes looks whipped. He was up at dawn 1,200 miles away in wet and chilly Auburn, Wash., where the Arizona team he headlines played to a somewhat disappointing finish in the final round of the NCAA West Regional, at Washington National Golf Club. The Wildcats qualified for the NCAA finals (in which they would finish 17th, 38 shots behind the winner, Clemson), but they lost the team title to Pac-10 rival UCLA by a stroke, and Barnes felt it was all his fault.

"I couldn't make a putt to save my life," he says, as he and three friends meander through the 93° night. "I hit almost every green center in, but I couldn't get it done. I don't know what was wrong with me." When Barnes falls silent, you'd swear that the day's failure is tearing him up inside.

You'd be wrong. A moment later the silence is broken by a chorus of heavenly voices. "Rick-eee!" sings a sextet of coeds queued up outside Gentle Ben's bar, where Barnes and company are headed. Inside, a graduation party is in full swing. "How's it going, Ricky?" asks one of the women as she lifts the rope so that Barnes and his buddies can slide under. He flashes a smile and falls into conversation with the women. Suddenly life doesn't seem so bad, and Barnes can be forgiven for leaving out one tiny detail about that day's round in Washington: He shot a 67, briefly tying the course record.

"Ricky's probably less interested in his successes than anyone else," says Arizona coach Rick LaRose. "It's almost as if he's still learning how good he really is. We've had some great golfers — David Berganio, Jim Furyk, Robert Gamez, Annika Sorenstam — but Ricky is the best at the collegiate level we've ever had here."

High praise, but justified. Barnes, a 22-year-old communications major who is a semester shy of earning a degree, is a four-time All-America and the cowinner (with Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State) of the 2003 Ben Hogan Award as the nation's top collegiate golfer. But Barnes's senior season has been more noteworthy for two other accomplishments: his U.S. Amateur win at Oakland Hills last August (where he defeated Mahan 2 and 1 in the final) and his performance at the Masters in April, when he shot a three-over 291 to come in 21st, matching the best finish by an amateur in five years.

At Augusta the winner of the Amateur traditionally is paired with the defending Masters champion for the opening two rounds, and going into the tournament, most observers took note of Barnes only because he had a front-row seat for Tiger Woods's pursuit of a record third consecutive green jacket. Instead, it was Barnes whom Woods pursued. Barnes's first-round 69 at waterlogged Augusta National was seven shots better than Woods's score, and the massive galleries following Tiger embraced Barnes. He made the cut at one under (six strokes ahead of Woods) and remained on the leader board until late in the third round.

Millions of television viewers got their first look at what Pac-10 fans had been seeing for four years: an aggressive player with a natural flair and a lot of game. Throw in pop-star good looks — the hay-yellow hair and muscled physique — and manic energy, and you have the most charismatic amateur since...well ...since Tiger. "He was awfully impressive out there," Woods said at the Masters. "He handled the pressure well. I know how hard that is to do."

Can Barnes repeat his Masterspiece next week during the U.S. Open at Olympia Fields? Barnes, who tied for sixth at the NCAAs, sometimes hits driver when he shouldn't, which could lead to problems in the punitive Open conditions. He's also a streaky putter, with a tendency to rush when the ball's not falling. And he will, as always, have to contend with his Incredible Hulk temperament. Barnes morphs into the brooding Hulk after crooked drives or when the execution of a shot doesn't match his daring.