Lefties Only: Russell, Maclauchlan to Face Off in 36-Hole Final

For left-handed golfers throughout the world, everything is all right at the 78th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Saucon Valley Country Club.

USGA history will be made on Saturday when southpaws Miles Russell, 17, of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., and 18-year-old Noah Maclauchlan, of Moseley, Va. square off in the 36-hole final on the Old Course. It’s the first time in an individual USGA championship that two left-handers have made a final.

In 2024 at Philadelphia Cricket Club, lefties Sam Engel and Jackson Herrington, the runner-up in last year’s U.S. Amateur, met in the 18-hole final of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, but they were joined by partners Brian Blanchard and Blades Brown, who are righties, respectively.

Russell, the most decorated junior in the country, held off U.S. National Junior Team member and 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champion Tyler Mawhiney, 18, of Fleming Island, Fla., 2 and 1, while Maclauchlan, who got into the field as a first alternate from his qualifying site, edged past 18-year-old Cooper Moore, of New Zealand, 1 up.

One of the finalists will join major champion Brian Harman (2003) and 2013 USA Walker Cupper Corty Whitsett (2007) as left-handed U.S. Junior Amateur titlists. The champion also gets a spot in next year’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links. Both are also exempt for next month’s U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club, in Ardmore, Pa., although Russell was already in the field via multiple categories.

Russell, the No. 2 seed and one of three medalists from stroke play, can become the first medalist/co-medalist to win the U.S. Junior Amateur since Jordan Spieth in 2009.

“Cooper gave a heck of a fight,” said Maclauchlan, who made nine birdies, four pars, four bogeys and a double bogey against Moore. “Gave me a lot of stress on the back nine. He kept on pouring [in] birdies, so we weren't going to win holes unless the other one wasn't making birdies.

“I'm just so proud of myself on the way I handled it and got out of there alive.”

For Russell, the U.S. Junior Amateur title would be the final box to check off in what has already been a remarkable junior career. The 2027 Florida State verbal commit not only finished tied for 39th in last month’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills but he also was just recently named to the 2026 USA Walker Cup Team, a rarity for a player who still has a year left of high school.

Three years ago, he surpassed 15-time major champion Tiger Woods as the youngest recipient of the American Junior Golf Association’s Boys Player of the Year, an accomplishment he repeated a year ago. He’s also represented his country twice in the Junior Ryder Cup (2023, 2025) and competed in the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup. He also won virtually every major junior title from the Junior PGA Championship to the Rolex Tournament of Champions, the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, the AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods and the Junior Players Championship.

He also is the youngest player to make a cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event (2024 LECOM Suncoast Classic).

The only thing missing for the No. 7 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®: a title with the letters U.S. at the front end.

He’ll get that opportunity on Saturday.

“I don't think my mindset really changes,” said Russell of the 36-hole final. “Go play like I've been playing and hopefully that ends up well. If it doesn't, just kind of going out and be positive and commit to everything I do and see where it takes us.”

On Friday against Mawhinney, who lives 34.5 miles southwest of Russell in Greater Jacksonville, he made two eagles and five birdies, including a slick, 12-foot downhill putt on the par-4 17th hole to close out the uber-talented Mawhinney, an incoming Vanderbilt University freshman in his third year on the U.S.   National Junior Team. Mawhinney had an opportunity to take the match to the 18th hole, but came up just short, missing from 10 feet.

For a semifinal that lived up to its marquee billing, the fireworks started right out the gate with Russell firing a 7-iron approach to 5 feet on the par-5 first hole for an eagle after Mawhinney converted his 10-foot birdie putt. On Hole 2, another laser approach by Russell to 3 feet set up another winning birdie.

Then it was Mawhinney’s turn to earn a winning birdie at the third. He followed his first winning hole up with a near hole out on his second shot on the par-5 sixth for an eagle that tied the match. Russell won No. 7 after Mawhinney pushed a short par putt but he recovered nicely with a 15-footer for birdie on the eighth. More brilliant shot making occured at the par-3 ninth as each player registered matching 2s.

The turning point came on the 290-yard, par-4 13th when Russell missed the green to the right with his 3-wood tee shot, then holed out the pitch from the rough for his second eagle of the day. It also was his second 2 on a par 4 this week as he nearly holed his tee shot on the drivable par-4 18th in his Round-of-16 victory on Thursday against Reed Arnaldo.   

“That was pretty huge,” said Russell of the chip-in. “I think that's kind of where the match [turned].”

Mawhinney and Russell both tied the par-5 15th with birdies, then both bogeyed No. 16, with Russell lipping out a par putt to win the hole, setting the stage for Russell’s match-sealing birdie on the 17th hole.

“I kind of expected it going into the match,” said a gracious Mawhinney, who is No. 102 in the WAGR. “I would like to say I could play better,but I don't know if I can play a whole lot better than that. It was really fun. I mean, good play against the best junior in the world. Yeah, take him to 17; fun day.”

A few weeks ago, Maclauchlan, an incoming Liberty University freshman, thought his chance to play at Saucon Valley was dashed when he earned first-alternate status from the Portsmouth, Va., qualifier. But then Rawlin Sutter, one of the Portsmouth qualifiers, claimed the Alabama State Boys Junior to become exempt, thus giving the spot to Maclauchlan. His younger brother, Liam, a 2027 University of Virginia verbal commit, was the medalist at that event, so both made the trek to the Lehigh Valley.

When Liam missed the cut for match play, he jumped on his brother’s bag, and the siblings are enjoying quite a ride, especially since Noah barely advanced after stroke-play rounds of 76-68.

 Consider, Noah MacLauchlan came into the championship at No. 2,047 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®, 2,040 spots behind his Saturday opponent -- a figure so large; it tops even the current Gregorian calendar year of 2026.

Moore, the runner-up in the 2026 Australian Boys’ Amateur, is No. 247 in the WAGR and a member of New Zealand’s National Junior Team.

Maclauchlan isn’t fazed by any of it. He’s relished the underdog role and he’ll be in that situation again going up against Russell.

In beating Moore, he jumped out to a 3-up lead with birdies on Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 6. His advantage could have been 4 up after nine, but Moore holed a clutch par putt to tie.

“That was like my first putt I holed of the afternoon and that sort of got the momentum,” said Moore. “[It] sort of got me back into the match, so I was pretty happy with that.”

Then Moore chipped away at the lead with winning pars at 10 and 11. But he never managed to tie as Maclauchlan made a 4-foot birdie on the par-3 14th for a 2-up lead.

Moore, however, would not go down without a fight. He matched his opponent with a 4 on the par-5 15th, then got a break when Maclauchlan found the penalty area left of the 16th green, leading to a double bogey. Both stuffed their approaches inside 5 feet on No. 17 for matching birdies.

On 18, Moore’s long bunker shot spun past the flagstick and down the slope, leaving him a 50-foot birdie putt. But Maclauchlan, who nearly reached the green, got too frisky with his pitch from the rough. Moore managed a two-putt par. Maclauchlan’s birdie from 25 feet above the hole went three-and-a-half feetpast, but he calmly converted, touching off a celebration with Liam and his family.  

The last of the four quarterfinals lived up to its pre-match billing. Mawhinney and Sohan Patel, who will matriculate at Vanderbilt University in 2027, had a hard-fought Round-of-16 match a year ago at Trinity Forest Golf Club, in Dallas, Texas, a contest Patel won, 1 up. And this year, the encounter also went the distance with a different outcome. A two-putt par on 18 was good enough for Mawhinney, to advance after the lefty Patel missed from 10 feet for par. Mawhinney was 2 down after three holes and didn’t take his first lead until the 13th hole.

All tied going to 18, Patel came up short with his 75-yard, 60-degree approach from the rough. While he hit a solid third from thick greenside rough, his ensuing par putt came up short and left of the hole. Mawhinney then rolled in his 2½ footer to make his first individual USGA semifinal.  

“A lot of people were watching, and it was just such a good match,” said Patel, whose run ended in the final eight for the second consecutive year (he lost to eventual champion Hamilton Coleman in 2025). “It was so much fun. All the cameras, people … the atmosphere was just crazy.”

In the other three morning quarterfinals, Russell gave up 7 inches and 55 pounds to Washington State rising sophomore Dylan Boenning, of Scottsdale, Ariz., but as is often said in golf, the ball doesn’t know your age, height or weight. Russell played 6-under golf over the 13 holes in sending the last of the seven current collegians in this year’s field home, 6 and 5.

How good was Russell? Good enough to defeat Boenning, whomade only one bogey in the match.

“It was really cool to see just how his demeanor is and how he goes about his game,” said Boenning of the decorated Russell. “It's very methodical and cool to see someone that young and that experienced. I mean, you learn a few things out there watching him. But it was a really cool experience to play with him.”

Moore evened the match-play score with his fellow Kiwi, Ryan Xie, at two wins apiece with a 2-and-1 victory. Moore never trailed against the incoming Santa Clara University freshman, thanks to an opening birdie on the par 5 and a winning par at the second hole. A par on the 187-yard 14th hole gave Moore a 3-up lead, and even a Xie birdie at No. 16 wasn’t enough.

Machlauchlan came up out firing against incoming Northwestern University freshman Kuan Zhou, of Houston, Texas, recording birdies on three of the first four holes en route to a 4-and-2 victory. He played 5-under golf over the duration of the 16-hole match.

What’s Next

Saturday’s 36-hole championship match will begin at 8 a.m. EDT and will continue in the afternoon following a break for lunch. That starting time has yet to be determined. Golf Channel will have live coverage from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

Notable

• Both semifinal losers (Tyler Mawhinney and Cooper Moore) received bronze medals.
  
  
• This won’t be Moore’s last trip to the U.S. in 2026. He will return in September to compete in the Junior Presidents Cup at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club. He is likely to see some of the same faces from this year’s U.S. Junior Amateur. He’ll also tee it up in the Asia-Pacific Amateur this fall before graduating from high school in December. His plans are to then turn professional.
  
  
• Ryan Xie stuck around in the afternoon to support his compatriot, Moore, who plays alongside Xie on the New Zealand National Academy.
  
  
• Tyler Mawhinney played 23 par-3 holes on the Old Course this week and was 7 under par.
  
  
• Top-seeded Brayden Jones’ defeat in the Round of 16 ended hopes of a possible 1 vs. 2 match-up in the championship match. That hasn’t occurred in the U.S. Junior Amateur since medalist Tiger Woods defeated future PGA Tour winner Mark Wilson in the 1992 final at Wollaston Golf Club in Massachusetts.
  
  
• A one vs. two seed match-up did happen the last time an amateur event was contested at Saucon Valley. Top-seeded Scott Harvey defeated fellow co-medalist Brad Nurski in the 36-hole final of the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur on the Old Course.
  
  
• Should Miles Russell win the title on Saturday, he would join 2026 U.S. Girls' Junior champion Clairey Lin as medalists to win in the same year. That would be the fourth time in history, the last coming in 2009 when Jordan Spieth and Amy Anderson (now Olson) achieved the feat at Trump National Golf Club, in Bedminster, N.J. It also happened in 1964 and 1984.
  
  
• Liberty assistant men’s golf coach Logan Reese, who was on the grounds earlier this week recruiting, drove back to Saucon Valley on Thursday night to watch incoming freshman Noah Maclauchlan. It was a six-hour drive from Lynchburg, Va., to the Lehigh Valley.
  
  
• Retired USGA executive and Saucon Valley member Mike Butz has been serving as a volunteer this week at his home club. Primarily, he’s been overseeing the handicap mobile scooters for disabled spectators. For many years, Butz oversaw operations at the Association’s biggest championships, including the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open.

Quotable

“I came sometime in May just to see the golf course. Been doing that for the last few years now. That's really just to kind of learn where everything is. Obviously, the weather was a bit chilly and soft. [But] just to see the golf course, walk it, and just get a few rounds in.” – Miles Russell on his preparation for Saucon Valley C.C.

“This is the third tournament that he's gotten to be on the bag for me, so he's no stranger to my game and how I kind of play. It's definitely a positive. He knows me so well. He knows when to settle me down. He knows when to give me some space mentally. I would rather have no one on the bag other than him.” – Noah Maclauchlan

“Rawlin [Sutter] is kind of my dog. We played a lot together over the winter in big tournaments and stuff, so I guess I owe him a thanks for winning his [Alabama] state junior. If I win [on Saturday], I guess I owe Rawlin a big thank you I would say, yes, sir.” – Maclauchlan on getting into the U.S. Junior as an alternate, thanks to Sutter’s state title that made him exempt

“It was an awesome week. Definitely stings to lose again in the quarterfinals, but I know that I'm definitely capable of winning this [title] next year.” – Sohan Patel

“It was an incredible experience; first Junior Am. I think I had a different road getting here. I was exempt into it. I'm not mad at what happened today. I played great golf. [I] shot 1 under and lost 6&5. I can't be mad at that. He was just rolling and didn't miss inside 20 feet.” – Dylan Boenning after his quarterfinal defeat

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