3 Things to Know: 126th U.S. Amateur

Few venues in America – if not the world – have the championship pedigree of Merion Golf Club. The Ardmore, Pa., club is set to host its 20th USGA championship and seventh U.S. Amateur this week as 312 competitors will descend upon Philadelphia’s tony Main Line with the ultimate goal of hoisting the Havemeyer Trophy next Sunday.

From Ben Hogan’s memorable 1-iron approach to the 72nd hole that led to his playoff triumph in the 1950 U.S. Open just 18 months after a near-fatal automobile accident to Bob Jones completing what was then golf’s Grand Slam in 1930 – the U.S. and British Opens and the U.S. and British Amateurs – to its famed wicker-basket flagsticks, history oozes from this place.

One more chapter will be added to those storied moments this week.

Mason Howell, the 19-year-old Georgian who made a remarkable run a year ago at The Olympic Club as the No. 63 seed, returns to defend, looking to become the first back-to-back winner since Tiger Woods claimed an unprecedented three in a row from 1994-96.

He’ll have plenty of company. Forty-seven of the top 50 players in the current World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® are entered, including a strong mix of American and international players from throughout the globe. Besides the United States, 35 countries are represented, providing a glimpse of how far-reaching the game has become.

Only one player in the field – reigning U.S. Senior Amateur champion Michael McCoy – competed at Merion the last time the U.S. Amateur was contested here in 2005. This will be the venerable Iowan’s 21st start in the event. There will also be a healthy number of first-timers as well, all of which adds to the charm of America’s oldest golf competition.

The USGA detailed a number of those storylines in the Inside the Field article that posted on Thursday.

Here’s a look at three things to know as the championship gets underway at Merion and stroke-play co-host Philadelphia Country Club:

Playing for the (Walker) Cup

Call it the competition within the competition. Last month, the USGA named four players – Preston Stout, Ethan Fang, Tyler Watts and Miles Russell – to the 2026 USA Walker Cup Team that will head to Lahinch, in the Republic of Ireland, early next month to seek a sixth consecutive victory against Great Britain & Ireland. Because of the decision to move the event to even-numbered years, the Match is taking place for a second consecutive year after the Americans rolled to victory last September at Cypress Point.

Six spots still remain with one going to the winner of the U.S. Amateur, provided he is American and not already named to the side. This is a big deal because four times in the last 15 years, a player not on the Walker Cup radar has earned a spot on the team via this route: Kelly Kraft (2011), Doc Redman (2017), Andy Ogletree (2019) and Mason Howell (2025).

There are a number of elite players Captain Nathan Smith and the USGA Selection Committee can choose from. Oklahoma State standout Ryder Cowan is coming off a strong U.S. Open performance, where he shared low-amateur honors with Jackson Koivun, a member of the 2025 Walker Cup Team who turned pro a week after his performance at Shinnecock Hills.

Josiah Gilbert, a former Auburn teammate of Koivun who helped the Tigers win this year’s NCAA title, and University of Alabama All-American William Jennings are also strong possibilities.

Jay Leng Jr. (Stanford) just captured the Western Amateur, defeating medalist Russell in the semifinals and then former U.S. National Junior Team member Michael Riebe in the 18-hole final.

Other notables to watch this week include 2025 Walker Cupper Jacob Modleski (Notre Dame), Brigham Young rising sophomore and Elite Amateur Program member Kihei Akina, Oklahoma State’s Eric Lee and University of Florida rising senior Jack Turner, the 2024 Western Amateur runner-up. All but Leng Jr. are among the top 20 in WAGR. Akina won’t have the benefit of a practice round as he made the 36-hole cut at this past weekend’s Wyndham Championship, in Greensboro, N.C. He’ll fly up to Philadelphia on Sunday night and begin his opening round on Monday morning at 8:43 off No. 11 at Merion.

One mid-amateur also is likely to be selected. Stewart Hagestad, 34, of Newport Beach, Calif., has been that golfer the past five Walker Cups, and the three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and 2022 U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist has since moved inside the top 30 of WAGR with recent strong performances at the Southern Amateur and Western Amateur.

All of which makes these last at-large picks extremely difficult. A great week in Philadelphia is the perfect way to make a final impression on the selectors.

Mid-Am Musings

With each passing year, the name John Harris becomes even more legendary. The late Minnesotan remains the last mid-amateur (25 and older) to have claimed the Havemeyer Trophy, doing so 33 years ago at Champions Golf Club, in Houston.

Since then, a few have come close. Philadelphia native George “Buddy” Marucci and Tom McKnight each advanced to the championship match in 1995 and 1998, respectively. Marucci was one of Tiger Woods’ three victims (Newport Country Club) and McKnight lost to Hank Kuehne at Oak Hill Country Club, in Rochester, N.Y., the site of next year’s U.S. Amateur.

Merion has its own mid-amateur history. When the championship was last contested here in 2005, reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Austin Eaton III reached the semifinals. Nobody in this age group has gone that far since then.

The aforementioned Hagestad reached the quarterfinals in 2022 at The Ridgewood Country Club, in Paramus, N.J., while long-hitting Texan Bobby Massa did the same at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in Chaska, Minn., two years ago.

Hagestad and Massa are two names to watch this week, along with 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Evan Beck and 33-year-old reinstated amateur/financial advisor Stuart Grehan, who claimed The Amateur Championship earlier this summer at Royal Liverpool, in England. At No. 22 in the WAGR, the Republic of Ireland native is the world’s top-rated mid-amateur.

A total of 49 mid-amateurs are in the field, 33 of which became exempt via a number of categories. Many captured their Allied Golf Association amateur titles, including Brett Patterson (Mississippi), Payne Denman (Tennessee), Parker Edens (South Dakota), Matt Vogt (Indiana) and Josh Persons (North Dakota). Vogt, a practicing dentist, qualified for last year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, a place where he caddied.

Also keep an eye on 2026 Latin America Amateur champion Mateo Pulcini, of Argentina, and past U.S. Open qualifier Christian Cavaliere, who lost to eventual champion Brandon Holtz in the semifinals of last year's U.S. Mid-Amateur at Troon Country Club.

Philadelphia golf fans know that the late Jay Sigel, arguably the greatest post-World War II amateur, won back-to-back U.S. Amateur titles in 1982-83 as well as three U.S. Mid-Amateurs before joining the Senior circuit when he turned 50.  

While these talented golfers remain long shots, one never knows when lightning will strike.

Home Cooking?

Anyone who watched last year’s U.S. Amateur saw how folks from nearby Mill Valley, Calif., descended upon The Olympic Club to cheer on local hero Niall Sheils Donegan. Although originally from Scotland, Donegan’s family moved to Northern California when he was only 3 due to his mom’s job at Google, so he basically became a Bay Area kid. His gallery continued to grow daily as he made a run to the semifinals, where Jackson Herrington eliminated the University of North Carolina golfer.

The same was true in 2016 at Oakland Hills Country Club when University of Michigan star Nick Carlson rode the overwhelming fan support all the way to the semifinals, where he took eventual champion Curtis Luck to extra holes.

Could something similar happen at Merion?

Ten players from Pennsylvania are in the field, including Merion member Drue Nicholas, 23, of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. The USGA gave him the honor of hitting the opening tee shot on Monday morning at his home club. He arrives fresh off winning a second consecutive Philadelphia Open at Lancaster Country Club. The Drexel University graduate joined the legendary Jay Sigel as the only players to capture the Philadelphia Amateur and Philadelphia Open in the same year.

Another Philadelphia-area resident to watch is Nicholas Gross, a quarterfinalist in last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur at Trinity Forest. Four years ago at The Ridgewood C.C., the University of Alabama rising junior also reached the final eight when he was just 15.

Patrick Isztwan, 23, of Huntingdon Valley, was among seven area players out of the eight qualifiers to gain entrance to the field at the Llanerch C.C. final qualifier. The University of Richmond graduate is a two-time runner-up in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur (2023, 2025).

Will another Liberty University golfer make a deep USGA run? Last month, incoming freshman Noah Mclauchlan stunned favorite Miles Russell in the 36-hole final of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley C.C., in Bethlehem, Pa. Michael Lugiano, a 20-year-old rising junior at the Lynchburg, Va., school, also qualified at Llanerch C.C. The Jackson Township, Pa., resident picked up his second career collegiate victory earlier this spring at the NCAA Corvallis (Ore.) Regional.

Yet another Liberty University player, 22-year-old Joshua Ryan, of Norristown, Pa., lost in a four-hole aggregate playoff to Nicholas at the recent Philadelphia Open. As a sophomore in 2024, he was named Conference USA’s Player of the Year. He also won consecutive Golf Association of Philadelphia Junior titles in 2021 and ’22.

Finally, Hunter Stetson, 20, of Newtown Square, earned a spot in the field by winning this year’s Delaware Amateur. The North Carolina State standout rallied from five strokes down with five to play to edge defending champion Evan Barbin in what turned out to be a seven-hole playoff.

Maybe there is something to be said for destiny.

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.