By Stuart Hall

Village of Pinehurst, N.C. — Robbie Fillmore always had it in his heart to play collegiate golf. But he also had a more passionate calling to fill.

So prior to Fillmore’s freshman year at Brigham Young University, where he was to play golf on scholarship, he decided to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Chile.

"When a player comes to me and says they feel it in their heart that it’s time to go, then you just back them 100 percent," said BYU golf coach Bruce Brockbank. "Three things generally happen when a player goes off to serve and two aren’t always positive."

To clarify, Brockbank meant that the talent may have diminished or the player may become indifferent toward the sport over the two years away.

For nine months in Santiago and 15 more in Roncagua, Fillmore served. Never once did he play a round of golf and, at times, he wondered what the state of his game would be when he returned to the United States.

"Two hours after I got off the plane I was playing," said Fillmore, 22, of Provo, Utah.

On Tuesday, nearly two years after serving his mission, Fillmore was medalist of the U.S. Amateur Championship’s match-play qualifier, finishing at 6-under 134, which included a second-round 5-under 65. On Tuesday, the top seed dispatched Ross Beal of Uniontown, Ohio, 3 and 2.

The medalist at the U.S. Amateur has now survived the first round the last seven consecutive years. The last medalist to exit in the first round was Chris Mundorf in 2001 against Greg Earnhardt.

Next up for the BYU junior is Kevin Tway of Edmond, Okla., the 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur champion and sophomore at Oklahoma State University, in Thursday’s second round.

"You know, I think I have won the U.S. Am 10,000 times in my mind," said Fillmore. "Honestly, I’m not here to prove anything to anyone but myself. I have felt for a long time that I have the potential to play with the best. Not that I feel like I have arrived or anything like that, but this is something I’m capable of and have worked hard for."

Work, Brockbank said, is an understatement when it comes to Fillmore.

"No question he is a unique kid," he said. "I knew when he stepped onto campus he was right out of the Danny Summerhays mold. You just stay out of his way and he will get it done in the classroom, will do everything you ask of him, and will work his tale off until the lights go off."

For context, Summerhays was a first-team All-American at Brigham Young in 2007 and, as a result, earned an invitation to the Nationwide Tour’s Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational, which he won as an amateur. Soon thereafter Summerhays turned professional and is currently enjoying exempt status on the Nationwide Tour.

Fillmore’s decision to do his mission when he did was somewhat unique. Men must be 19 before they can serve, and at the time Fillmore was still 18. Also, his parents, Robert and Pam, were serving missions, though that did not factor into his decision.

Most men serve after a year at the university, though, as in the case of Andy Miller, another BYU standout and son of Hall of Famer Johnny Miller. Andy Miller played all four years, earned his PGA Tour playing card and then decided to serve.

"It just worked out that it was the right time for me," Fillmore said. "I had never taken two years off before, so I thought at the point I get back, it’s going to take a little while to get the ball rolling. So rather than playing a year and then coming back and having to jump back in, this allowed me to do my mission, come back and then still have an option to red-shirt a year."

In addition to jumping headfirst into learning Spanish, Fillmore said the experience was mind and heart opening.

"Every day I’m grateful I did it," he said. "It just gave me perspective, helped me put golf in perspective. I want to win as much as anybody and will work sun up to sun down in order to win … but, at the same time, I’m really grateful for what I have."

Understandably so. When Fillmore was 3, he was injured in a fire and suffered third degree burns over more than 25 percent of his body. Doctors told his family that if the young Fillmore survived he would never be able lift his arms above parallel to the ground.

Within a year or two after the incident, Fillmore’s father was shaving down clubs for him to knock around a golf ball. Years later, a friend encouraged Fillmore, an avid baseball player, to play in a local nine-hole tournament, which he won.

"I thought at that point ‘I like this game,’" Fillmore said.

Brockband says that Fillmore has an unbridled passion for the game and his game continues to evolve. As a driver of the ball, the 5-foot-10, 155-pound player is surprisingly long off the tee, and his iron play is starting to show signs of vast improvement. The short game and putting may be a weakness, but Brockbank said that Fillmore will "figure out a way to be successful."

Fillmore, who was the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year in 2007, readily admits that he still feels like he’s getting back into the game. Even though Fillmore shot a 66 to win a one-day tournament in Utah nine days after returning home to Salt Lake City in 2006, he needed another two months before breaking 72.

After his coming-out freshman season, Fillmore upped the bar on expectations. As a sophomore, he totaled five top-10 finishes, his best being a tie for fourth at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate.

"His work ethic will take a backseat to no one," Brockbank said. "I know what he is capable of doing, and I’m not surprised he’s been successful [in Pinehurst]. I will admit the 65 was something of a surprise, but it just goes to show what he’s capable of."

Stuart Hall is a freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on www.usamateur.org.