Stout Earns Medalist Honors in 125th U.S. Amateur Championship

Preston Stout fired a championship-low round of 5-under 65 on Tuesday morning to help himself earn medalist honors at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif. The freshly-minted Walker Cupper paired his round today with a 3-under 68 on Monday to find himself atop the leader board.

Playing off the No. 1 tee on the Lake Course, the 21-year-old from Dallas, Texas navigated the toughest portion of the golf course and went out in 2-under, birdieing hole Nos. 7 and 9 before dropping a shot at the par-4 12th. With his head coach Alan Bratton on the bag, the Oklahoma State Cowboy quickly made up for it with a deuce on the ensuing par 3, before stringing together three more birdies on hole Nos. 15-17.

“I think it’s big,” said Stout, who won the 2025 Northeast Amateur and is currently the fourth-ranked amateur in the world. “Obviously [earning medalist honors] doesn’t mean you won the tournament, but I think it just gives me confidence going into match play that my game’s in a good spot. Yeah, I like where things are at.”

Playing alongside his fellow native Texan, Tommy Morrison – who celebrated his 21st birthday on Monday and held a share of the lead heading into Tuesday’s second round – carded a 2-under 68 with birdies on Nos. 2, 9 and 15. The rising senior at the University of Texas followed up a bogey-free round yesterday with just a single bogey on Tuesday at the par-4 fifth.

“It was a quick turnaround and an early wake-up, so I felt it this morning,” said Morrison, who in 2024 became the first American to win the European Amateur. “But overall, I felt good. It was two really solid days.”

U.S. National Junior Team member and top-ranked junior Miles Russell fired off six birdies of his own on the Ocean Course after recording an even-par 70 on Monday. With only two bogeys on Nos. 2 and 12, he finished stroke play 4-under 136 and in solo third.

“I did everything pretty solid,” said Russell, who won the 2025 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. “I hit the ball better than yesterday, rolled it nice, had a couple putts that burned the edge, but my game is just feeling solid right now.”

18-year-old Logan Reilly, of Lovettsville, Va., put together a roller-coaster round on the Lake Course, tallying five birdies and five bogeys and finishing 67-70-137 for solo fourth. 

What’s Next

The 20-for-17 playoff for the final match-play spots will take place at 7:30 a.m. PDT on the Ocean Course. It will be played on holes 9, 10, 16, 17 and 18. The remainder of the championship will be contested on the Lake Course, and the Round of 64 will commence at 9 a.m. PDT off the first tee. For fans wishing to attend, tickets are available for purchase. The championship will be streamed live on Peacock from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT, with Golf Channel picking up the coverage from 7 p.m. EDT to 9 p.m. EDT. 

Notable

Those in the 20-for-17 playoff include world No. 5 Filip Jakubcik, of Czechia, 2025 U.S. Junior Amateur medalist Mason Howell, of Thomasville, Ga., 2023 U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up Joshua Bai, of New Zealand, Walker Cup hopeful Jacob Modleski, of Noblesville, Indiana, and Paul Chang, of China, who advanced to the Round of 32 in 2024 at Hazeltine National Golf Club and the Round of 16 in 2023 at Cherry Hills.

USGA champions who failed to advance to match play included 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Evan Beck, 2025 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Hamilton Coleman, 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Matthew McClean, 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Trevor Gutschewski, three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad, 2017 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Matt Parziale, 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champions Will Hartman and Tyler Mawhinney, 2023 U.S. Senior Amateur champion Todd White

San Francisco native Jacob Goode – member of The Olympic Club and fifth-year senior at the University of Washington who had the honor of hitting the championship’s opening tee shot – shot 73-73, failing to advance to match play.

Four mid-amateurs advanced to match play: Andrew Bailey, 33, of Shaker Heights, Ohio; Kolton Crawford, 33, of Azle, Texas; Nate Gahman, 34, of Albany, Ga.; Nate Smith, 42, of Tetona, Idaho; 33-year-old Payne Denman, of Knoxville, Tenn., and Travis Woolf, 37, of Fort Worth, Texas, are in the playoff

Alan Bratton, who is serving as Preston Stout’s caddie this week, was also on the bag for Peter Uihlein and Viktor Hovland during their U.S. Amateur victories in 2010 and 2018, respectively.

First round co-leader Charlie Forster, 22, of England registered a hole-in-one on the 162-yard 15th with a 9-iron playing in Tuesday’s afternoon wave on the Ocean Course.

19-year-old Arni Sveinsson, the first player representing Iceland to compete in the U.S. Amateur, turned in rounds of 68-72 to become the first Icelandic player to reach match play in a USGA championship.

Connor Williams, 21, of Escondido, Calif., registered the largest score difference (16 strokes) between the first and second rounds, shooting 69 on Monday and 85 on Tuesday.

Quotable

“I love match play. I think it’s the best form of golf, and it’s super fun. Yeah, I’m excited. I think one hole at a time is big in match play, so just trying to take that mentality into it.” – Medalist Preston Stout on the switch to match play beginning Wednesday

“Yeah, it was nice to have some people out there. I loved how there are no ropes, so the fans could come into the fairway and just hang out. It was a good environment, and everybody was very friendly to me.” – Tommy Morrison on competing amongst the spectators at The Olympic Club

“I don’t know, I just putted really well today. I just hit it in the right spots to miss. I feel like when I did hit bad tee balls, I was fine, and then I just putted insane.” – John Daly II on what worked en route to a 3-under 67 on The Olympic Club’s Ocean Course to punch his ticket to match play

“I’m a home builder, so this morning, with the late tee time, I was up early ordering roofing materials for a job, talking to our guys on-site and making sure everything was running smoothly back home. It’s definitely a different thing. I don’t have any children, so I get a little more free time – that’s a bonus in that regard.” – 43-year-old mid-amateur Nate Smith on his career outside the ropes

“These guys are really good, and it’s great to be back playing amateur golf, especially at a tournament like this. It’s such a good test and it’s a long week, and just understanding that it’s kind of like a TOUR event. You have to manage your sleep and your rest correctly before going out.” – Jackson Koivun on competing in the U.S. Amateur after a summer that featured three top 15 performances on the PGA Tour