Former Mountain Brook High School standout Gordon Sargent won the low-amateur honor at the U.S. Open despite a bizarre finish to his final round on Sunday.

Sargent rolled in a short putt on the 18th green to complete a 2-under round of 68 on the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club. But as soon as his ball went into the hole, it bounced back out, and Sargent had to tap in for a bogey and a 69 for the round.

“I had like a two-and-a-half footer straight up the hill that hit the back of the hole and just bounced right back to me,” Sargent said a few minutes later during a press conference. “Haven’t seen that happen in a while, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

A statement from the U.S. Golf Association said the ball bounced out because the cup was damaged.

“A member of the group ahead inadvertently adjusted the hole liner when removing the flagstick,” the USGA said during the final round. “Unfortunately, we were not informed of any damage. It has since been adjusted back into place.”

Sargent finished the tournament at 4-over 284. He finished tied for 39th overall.

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Nineteen amateurs made the U.S. Open field, and four survived the cut. Sargent finished nine shots ahead of the No. 2 amateur, Ben Carr.

“It’s cool,” Sargent said of the low-amateur honor, for which he received a medallion from the USGA. “It’s kind of what your goal as an amateur is is to be the low am, especially with so many amateurs here. It means a lot and gives me a lot of confidence.”

Sargent qualified for his second major championship by winning a two-round qualifying tournament with a 13-under showing on June 5 at Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, Georgia.

Sargent played in the Masters in April on a special invitation and missed the cut at 9-over through two rounds.

“Playing in my second major, just kind of wasn’t as nervous as the first one,” Sargent said.

During the two tournaments, Sargent said he had learned “you really have to limit the mistakes” at that level of golf.

“They seem to just like limit their mistakes really well,” Sargent said of his professional counterparts. “They don’t really hit it out of position too often, and if they do, they just kind of get it back into position after that. Like you’ll see the leaders aren’t making doubles out there, and that was the key, so kind of just the consistency and limiting mistakes is what I envy in their games and I’m trying to get better at.”

With 19 birdies, Sargent had as many as tournament winner Wyndham Clark, and only Rickie Fowler with 23 had more during this year’s U.S. Open. But Sargent also had 17 bogeys and three double bogeys.

A former AHSAA Class 6A boys’ golf champion, Sargent is closing in on PGA Tour membership via the PGA Tour University Accelerated program. After two years at Vanderbilt, Sargent has 16 points in the program. A player earning 20 points in his first three years of college qualifies for a PGA Tour card.

If Sargent plays for the U.S. team in the Walker Cup, he will earn two more points. He’s currently in line to receive an automatic spot on the team, which will be announced next month.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.