Behind at lunch, champion by the finish
Jack Whaley won the US Amateur overnight at Merion, just outside Philadelphia. He beat American Jay Leng Jr. 4 and 3 in a 36-hole final.
The 22-year-old Englishman from Doncaster is heading into his final year at Florida State. His father, Andy, carried his bag.
The match swung both ways. Whaley was two up after eight. Then Leng, 20 and a Stanford student, caught fire on the back nine and turned it around. By lunch the Englishman was two down. Both players closed out that first round with bogeys on the par-5 18th. It was raining, and the wind was howling.
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Five holes that changed everything
Whaley took four of the first five holes in the afternoon session to flip it back. The odd detail in the run was this: a wasp stung him on the ankle in the fairway at the fourth, and he played the next two holes in pain.
The next six holes evened out. They each won two, lost two and halved two. Whaley rolled in a par putt at the 30th hole of the championship to stretch his lead to three, then finished it with a birdie putt at the 33rd.
He becomes the third Englishman to get his name on the trophy, and the first since Matt Fitzpatrick in 2013.
Three majors in the bag
The Havemeyer Trophy is not the only prize. Whaley has also earned invites to the 2027 US Open at Pebble Beach, the 2027 Open Championship at St Andrews and the 2027 Masters. Three majors, no qualifying needed.
He will also play the Walker Cup in September for Great Britain and Ireland. The event pitches the American amateurs against their counterparts from Great Britain and Ireland, in a Ryder Cup-style format.
The US Amateur roll of honour includes Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
“On the drive home, I was looking at my dad while seeing some of the names engraved on there. I never imagined mine would be up there among people like that,” Whaley said after his win.
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