He’s 20. And at U.S. Open, he’s carrying an entire wintry country’s hopes

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — There’s steak. And then there’s Icelandic steak.

And Icelandic steak, next to your knife and fork, looks much like what you’d ask for at the meat counter in your local supermarket. But, as you can surmise by this setup, an Icelandic steak’s distinctiveness is in its succulence. Which comes not by chance. The cows are built different on the island south of the Arctic Circle.

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Because of those who mind them.

There are no compromises.

There is nothing artificial.

“It’s just … fresh,” Gunnlaugur Arni Sveinsson said of the beef.

It’s Tuesday afternoon at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, two days before the U.S. Open, and Sveinsson is looking out from a bench, maybe a pitching wedge distance from the clubhouse. A few minutes earlier, Scottie Scheffler walked by. He’s playing for the career grand slam. In another direction, Adam Scott entered a support building. This week, he plays in his 100th-straight major. History. History makers, just like Sveinsson, who goes by Arni, which may call to mind Arnold Palmer, the King, and this Arni is a bit of golf royalty himself. Via final qualifying nine days ago, the 20-year-old became a U.S. Open golfer, which no one from his home country of Iceland had ever done, which is also understandable, given the circumstances. Golf is played in the Nordic country; according to Golf Iceland, it has about 60,000 players and just over 60 courses. It’s just the golf season that far north is about four months long, from May to September, meaning should you want to play any of the other eight months of a year, your golf bag better have a snow shovel.

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Sveinsson’s did. His mom and dad, Halla Arnadottir and Sveinn Ogmundsson, have videos of it, as moms and dads record videos when they catch their boys and girls, in gloves and hats, in the backyard removing powder from a small turf putting green. Pride mixed with wonder. Arni’s putting! Arni’s putting? In another phone video, Arni’s head is wrapped everywhere but his eyeballs while he sends balls into a net, the thwack of the ball sounding especially thwacky in the dry, wintry air. In a photo, Arni hits on a range, which is lit only from the headlights of Halla’s car. He’d also play inside, when he could. As Halla and Sveinn walked with Arni as he played a practice round on Tuesday, they said they remembered Arni being upset when their indoor club once was closed on Christmas Day. “He said, ‘Why? Why are they closed? I want to go play golf with you and the Trackman,” Halla said. “And we said, ‘It’s a national holiday, you can’t play.’” At 12, Arni started writing down goals. Make the club team. Then make the national team. A few years ago, one said “pro.”

“Of course, I didn’t want to crush his dream,” Halla said. “In the back of my mind, I thought, you’re from Iceland, you’re not going to make it as a professional. But of course I believed in him and hoped the best for him.”

Sveinsson started winning international tournaments. He created his own highlight package, and American universities started calling. He committed to East Tennessee State, then pledged to Louisiana State after ETSU coach Jake Amos was hired in Baton Rouge. Last year, as a freshman, Sveinsson won one tournament and finished top-five five times. This season, he won again. He’s currently 14th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. And should you be curious, he’s been to LSU football games and LSU football game tailgates. Mom and dad were at last year’s Texas A&M game. He watches mostly sports. He listens to some music; Kaleo, an Icelandic rock group with a couple hits, is his driving-range band. He never really got into video games.

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Then came last Monday, at final qualifying in Westerville, Ohio. Sveinsson survived a four-for-three playoff. Dad was his caddie, and they talked family and news. Mom watched from home. At about midnight there, she saw him advance. She broke down.

“I was following online, and then they had the playoff on the Golf Channel, so I could watch it on TV,” Halla said. “And then the golf association was streaming live on Instagram. So we had Golf Channel on the TV and Instagram on the phone. So I was with our older son and his girlfriend and my mother. And I basically didn’t know if I should scream or cry or laugh when it went through.”

Six days later, folks started arriving on Long Island. The entourage is sizable. Arni. Mom and dad. Amos. An agent. A stats guy from the Icelandic Golf Federation. His physio, Gauti Gretarsson; he, too, has phone videos, including one where Sveinsson is dribbling a basketball with his right hand while trying to catch small orange balls with his left, which is as intense as it sounds. A couple coaches are here. His grandparents are coming. About a dozen members from his home club are flying in; they’re skipping a national match play event for it.

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This week has felt almost alien, even for someone who prides himself in being grounded. Sunday, he hit on the range between major winners Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy. Monday, he played a practice round with Reed, as two-time U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau played through. Tuesday, he played with Ryder Cupper Nicolai Hojgaard, and Wednesday, he played with Sam Burns, a former LSU star. Justin Rose came up and shook his hand. At a glance, Sveinsson’s game is quadruple P — power, pitching, putting and poise. He can move the ball and has touch, without a sign of nerves, though he thinks there’ll be a few come Thursday, when he starts his Open at 2:20 p.m. “I try to prep really well,” Sveinsson said, “so as long as I’m prepped and ready to go and know what I’m getting myself into, I think that’s what makes me have an edge on some of the guys.”

For mom and dad, the most surreal times of the week have come when they’ve seen his name on one of the electronic leaderboards out here; on 18 on Tuesday, Sveinn took out his phone and recorded the scene. But it’s the autographs that daze them the most. Kids? Calling for their son? No one is missed. Everything is signed.

A few feet away, Hella said he’s always been that way. Nothing artificial.

He hopes to inspire. He’s the first Icelander, but he believes there’ll be a second and a third, and on and on. Hard work can get you to a U.S. Open, even from frosty Iceland. No compromises. Icelandic steaks. And Icelandic golfers.

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“We’re so proud,” Halla said. “It’s a great honor for him, too. And for all the young kids back home and also kids his age and older to see it’s possible, even though you come from a small country, small island in the Atlantic. You can still do it, even though you just practice outdoors maybe a few months a year.

“If you have the dedication and focus, you can do it.”

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