Leng, Loflin, Reilly, Whaley Semifinalists at Merion

Twenty-one years ago, a relatively unheralded European golfer captured the U.S. Amateur title at Merion Golf Club after sneaking into the match-play draw from a 19-man playoff. Italy’s Edoardo Molinari, in fact, holed a bunker shot at the par-3 ninth, his last hole of stroke play, just to get into the playoff.

Jack Whaley is possibly following the same path. The 21-year-old Englishman didn’t have any final-hole heroics, but the Florida State University rising senior did nearly make an ace on the par-3 13th hole during the 16-man playoff on Wednesday morning to grab one of the 11 available spots.

After Friday’s impressive 5-and-4 victory over Adam Bresnu, the first Moroccan golfer to ever play in this championship, Whaley is only two victories away from hoisting the Havemeyer Trophy.

“That's a pretty cool one,” said Whaley about the Molinari narrative. “If I can go to the end, that would be a pretty cool story.”

He will be joined in Saturday’s semifinals by Stanford rising junior Jay Leng Jr., 20, of San Diego, Calif.; recent University of Georgia standout Carter Loflin, 22, of Duluth, Ga.; and Auburn University rising sophomore Logan Reilly, 19, of Lovettsville, Va.

Leng closed out his 6-and-5 victory over University of Florida standout Jack Turner with four consecutive birdies. Loflin, a past semifinalist in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship (2022, 2023) with ex-Vanderbilt University standout Wells Williams, defeated University of Colorado rising senior Brandon Knight, 3 and 2, and Reilly, who clinched the deciding point in the championship match to help the Tigers win their second NCAA title in three years, eliminated local favorite and Liberty University rising junior Michael Lugiano, of Jackson Township, Pa., 6 and 4.

It also was the fewest number of holes played (57) in the quarterfinals – by three holes – since 2002.

Whaley’s remarkable run this week was made more improbable by the fact he was competing on the NAIA level 15 months ago at Dalton (Ga.) State College, where he was the Jack Nicklaus Award recipient as the player of the year. That got him noticed by Florida State, where he transferred for the 2025-26 season, posting three top-10 finishes, including a share of eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship.

But outside of winning the NAIA national title, he’s never accomplished anything bigger than what’s transpired at Merion the past five days.

Against Bresnu, a Texas Tech rising senior who spent two years at Odessa (Texas) Junior College, Whaley didn’t lose a hole, making birdies on Nos. 1 and 2, a winning par at the third and another birdie at the eighth to take a 4-up lead. It wasn’t nearly the same kind of golf from Bresnu, who had eliminated University of Illinois star Max Herendeen 24 hours earlier.

Reaching the semifinals also should put Whaley, No. 90 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®, clearly on the radar for The R&A selectors who will pick the 10 individuals to represent Great Britain & Ireland in next month’s Walker Cup Match at Lahinch, in the Republic of Ireland. As of Friday, he had not heard from anyone associated with the two-day competition, but he also knows a victory in Sunday’s final would make that automatic.

“It would obviously be a huge honor to go and play in the Walker Cup,” said Whaley. “I'm always honored to go and play for any team, if it's my home four-ball, for county level or Sheffield Union that I used to play when I was younger.

“Obviously, that's a really big step up from those [competitions]. But I just want to play golf. I've just got to let my golf talk, and I would be incredibly honored if they communicated with me and said they wanted me to play.”

Few people in amateur golf are hotter right now than Leng Jr., who is coming off winning the Western Amateur at Beverly Country Club, in Chicago two weeks ago, as well as a runner-up finish in the Northeast Amateur in June and a share of fifth at the Southern Amateur last month. The Southern Californian has a chance to become the 10th player in history to capture the U.S. Amateur and Western Amateur in the same year, joining an illustrious list that includes Jack Nicklaus (1961), Tiger Woods (1994), Lanny Wadkins (1970), Justin Leonard (1992) and Hal Sutton (1980). New Zealander Danny Lee, in 2008, was the last to accomplish the feat.

At the Western Amateur, he defeated Miles Russell and former U.S. National Junior Team member Michael Riebe in the semis and finals, respectively.

On Thursday, he eliminated No. 2 seed and 2026 USA Walker Cupper Tyler Watts and in the opening round on Wednesday, he beat 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Evan Beck. Now he could be joining Watts and Russell on Captain Nathan Smith’s Walker Cup Team; a win on Sunday would guarantee it.

A win against Reilly in the semifinals would also book him a spot in next year’s U.S. Open and a likely invitation to the Masters.

“That would mean the world,” said Leng Jr. “That's all I've been thinking about this week. I'm not really going to let that affect my game. I'm just going to play my game, and whatever happens happens.” 

Against Turner, Leng made six birdies, including the aforementioned four straight holes to close out the match. On the 119-yard 13th, he almost had a walk-off hole-in-one, hitting a sand wedge to less than a foot, closing out the match with birdie.

Reilly produced similar dominance against Lugiano, who clearly had the biggest gallery of the afternoon. After winning his Round-of-16 match against 2026 U.S. Open co-low amateur Ryder Cowan, the Virginian talked about how he relished big galleries. The louder the better.

He put aside any outside distractions in beating this year’s NCAA Corvallis (Ore.) Regional individual champion, thus extinguishing the flame of the Liberty Flame.

Two birdies and a par from No. 10 gave Reilly a 4-up lead, and then he added two more birdies on 13 and 14, the latter a concession after Lugiano hit his tee shot out of bounds, to end the festivities.

“It was good,” said Reilly. “It was fun, that's for sure. I actually really enjoyed it. I loved how many people there were out there. Just gave me a little extra motivation, honestly. Thank God I got a couple of my friends that came out, so they were trying to get loud.

It was great. Unbelievable atmosphere.”

While the No. 56 player in WAGR hasn’t been as dominant as Leng Jr., he did qualify for the U.S. Open in June, reached the semifinals of the Western Amateur (lost to Riebe) and tied for fifth at the Northeast Amateur. And he played an integral role for Auburn as a freshman, a team that featured recent PGA Tour winner Jackson Koivun.

Last summer, he advanced to match play at the U.S. Amateur and reached the final 32 of the U.S. Junior Amateur.

“I'd say this whole summer I've been playing pretty solid, and I've been hitting it really well,” said Reilly. “Just kind of all depends on if I'm making putts or not. I feel like today I was making those putts that were needed, a couple 15-, 20-footers, and then the short ones were all going in. I felt like everything was dialed in today. I feel like everything has been trending in the right direction...ever since the start of the summer.”

When he arrived at the first tee for his showdown with Knight, Loflin was shocked at the number of people on the grounds. Knight opened with a birdie, but Loflin answered with a winning par at the second. Then Knight won Holes 3 and 4 with pars as Loflin tried to grind his way back into the match. It all began with a chip-in par at the difficult fifth hole, and then consecutive birdies at 7 and 8 pushed him into the lead for good.

“Probably the coolest thing I've ever done, to be completely honest with you,” said Loflin of the chip-in. “I can't even remember the last time I chipped in, and that one was pretty good.”

Birdies on 10 and 13 pushed the margin to 3 up, and when Knight failed to convert his 8-foot par putt on the No. 16, the match was over.

While Loflin exhausted his eligibility in the spring – he could still get a fifth year depending on court rulings – he is enrolled at Georgia for the fall semester to complete his business degree. From there he plans to turn professional. Of course, getting to Sunday’s final might put those plans on hold.

“Well, it would be really, really cool,” said Loflin. “The Masters is a tournament I've grown up going to. I've been fortunate enough to make it out there and play since I went to University of Georgia. We get to go once a year. It's a really special place, and I actually really enjoy the golf course a lot. Who wouldn't.

“I think I'm more excited about [playing in the semifinals] than anything else. If I win, great. If I lose, hopefully Jack [Whaley] will give me a ticket.”

By late Saturday afternoon, two tickets will be punched.

What’s Next

Saturday’s semifinal matches are set for 2 p.m. and 2:20 p.m., with the 36-hole championship match on Sunday going off at 9 a.m. The time for the afternoon 18 has yet to be determined. Tickets are available by clicking here. NBC has live coverage on the weekend from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Notable

• Semifinalists are exempt into the next two U.S. Amateurs at Oak Hill Country Club and Whistling Straits. The two finalists both receive exemptions into the 127th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links and a likely invitation to the Masters Tournament.
  
  
• Michigan-based caddie Jeff Kiser is having quite the month of August. Last week, the Oakland Hills Country Club caddie was the on the bag of semifinalist Gabriella Nicastro at the U.S. Women’s Amateur held at The Honors Course. This week, he’s on the bag of semifinalist Jay Leng Jr. He met both players in Michigan. He caddied for Nicastro at the 2025 Women’s Western Amateur, and he carried for Leng Jr. when he advanced to the semis of the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur. “For an old man, I'm hanging in there, but it's great to watch a lot of good golf.”
  
  
• While NBA legend Charles Barkley was on the grounds Thursday to watch the Round of 16, another basketball player, Frank Iguodala, took in Saturday’s action. He is the brother of former NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala.
  
  
• Golf certainly is the main attraction this week at Merion, but the most popular spot might be the pro shop. Lines were out the door on Friday prior to the quarterfinals as if folks were waiting for concert tickets. One staff member estimated that the club will likely hit $2 million in gross sales over the week.
  
  
• More than 12,000 tickets have been sold for this week’s championship, and the USGA/Merion are expecting even bigger crowds on the weekend. Friday’s attendance was the highest on record for the USGA. The total fan ticket sales have now surpassed the $400,000 revenue mark for the first time in U.S. Amateur history.
  
  
• Just how difficult has Merion’s par-4 18th hole played this week? It was the second-toughest hole behind No. 5 during stroke play. Seventeen matches have gone to the 501-yard, par-4 and just one player has made a birdie, Logan Reilly, registering a 3 against Emile Lebrun in the Round of 64 to force extra holes, where he eventually won on the 19th hole. Medalist Joshua Ryan also had a birdie conceded when his Round-of-64 opponent, Taishi Moto, hit his tee shot out of bounds. Otherwise, the hole has produced eight bogeys and seven double bogeys. Two first-round matches had matching double-bogey 6s. 
  
  
• This wasn’t the first time Adam Bresnu and Jack Whaley had crossed paths. At the Memorial Tournament, they were honored with the Jack Nicklaus Award as the player of the year for their respective college divisions: Bresnu at Odessa (Texas) Junior College and Whaley at NAIA Dalton State University.
  
  
• Bill Lynch, a Merion member who is serving as the general chairman for this week’s U.S. Amateur, brought a tailgate-style grill to the club to cook up tomahawk steaks for members of the grounds staff.

Quotable

“Honestly, going NAIA for the first two years was the best choice I ever made, and honestly, I played under one of the best coaches I could have ever got. Ben Rickett was such a great influence for me and really pushed me towards being the best that I can be. I won quite a few times in NAIA and being in a position where you've got a bit of pressure on your back going down the stretch, you kind of get used to it. I think it really shows when you've got a crowd like that and you know what's at stake. You go back to what you've learnt in the past, and it really helped me.” – Jack Whaley

“I'm pretty much firing at every pin and trying to make as many birdies as possible. I know if I'm somewhat close, I should have a chance. My putting has been really good this whole week. It's a good confidence boost.” – Jay Leng Jr.

“Oh, he's helped me immensely. I was telling somebody out there, I was like, this must be what Scottie feels like having Ted Scott on his bag. Before he even tees up his ball, he knows he's going to save two or three strokes somewhere today. You feel like you're saving shots before you even start, which is like just such a big confidence builder because it takes so much pressure off of you feeling like you have to play your ‘A’ game. He knows this place so well. He's an incredible green reader, and he's a very calming influence.” – Carter Loflin on having 35-year Merion caddie Jack Hopkins on his bag

“I've always been a fast player. Sometimes people say I was too fast. But I didn't really listen to them. I kind of do all my stuff as I'm walking up to the ball or right when I get to it or my opponent is hitting. If you think too much about it, too many thoughts [are] going through your head, and you're kind of just frozen. I like to kind of keep it going and keep a good flow.” – Logan Reilly on his pace of play

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